


the six degrees of separation.

by youtrashqueen



Series: take a bite of my heart tonight. [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Anti-monster shit, Big Brother W. D. Gaster, But first angst, Cussing, Dark Humor, Dysfunctional Relationships, Everyone Has Issues, F/M, Guess Who's Back, Jealousy, Manipulative Reader, Murder Mystery, Obsessive Behavior, Papyrus tries to be a better brother, Plot Twists, Possessive Behavior, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reader Is Badass, Reader is named, Rehabilitation, Sans hates gaster, Secrets, Two is back, Violence, and has a specific look, hunteeerrs, monster racism, the world is still shit, we're gonna have some action
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-01-23 18:21:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 61,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12513480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youtrashqueen/pseuds/youtrashqueen
Summary: after the struggle and shit you had to go through, the monsters are finally being integrated into society, and the world, for just a second, falls silent again, like the aftermath of a storm. despite this, there is still need for hunters to dust up the mess this sudden cohabitation causes --and inevitably, you end up neck deep in the same bucket of crap you tried to avoid stepping into. needless to say, you will be damned if you go down without a fight...again, the first chapter is a bumpy ride, so bear with me? sequel of 'take a bite of my heart tonight'!





	1. my heart is open wide with no love to show

* * *

 

Red lipstick and prettily curled eyelashes, brown contact lenses and lush blonde curls.

You almost didn’t recognize yourself in the compact mirror as you checked your appearance for the tenth time tonight. It was a drastic change compared to your usual black as night hair --granted, it was a wig, so it could be taken off anytime, thank god for this witty little accessory. Underneath the trench coat, your shoulders were bare, skin exposed, but even then, you masked all your scars with that body skin foundation. No traces were left of who you really were and that was the whole point behind this tryst.

The backless black dress you chose made you self-conscious to a point you didn’t know you could be, but perhaps it had to do with the ever-reminding scars on your lower back --that wound _was_ the worst.

You could at least use your legs now, you could run again and you could jump.

When you woke up, a week after that fateful day, hooked to machines and with tubes down your throat, after surgeries had already been performed on you...well, you found out very fast that you couldn’t move your legs.

The trident had done some nasty damage to your spine when it went through.

In your panic-filled mind, you didn’t question much then, but now as you were lucid and focused, you kept wondering what exactly drove you to your feet in that throne room?

Nerves must have been damaged, so how? There was only the memory of golden flowers and a king.

Regardless, that moment when you realized that your legs no longer worked, you had a full on panic attack, thrashing and screaming. Never in your life have you felt so helpless and hopeless, so exposed and vulnerable. For someone that was crazy active their whole life, that ran, jumped, fought and relied on your whole body so much, the sudden halt, the unresponsive limbs, it...it really broke you.

Needless to say, you were put out of commission. They brought you to one of their more remote facilities, where you were isolated from the outside world, rendered useless and stuck inside same hospital room for weeks, months.

You cried so hard the first nights, you wept and punched your knees, your calves, your feet, in blind hope that it might help somehow.

Many times, the nurses would find you on the floor, having tried to walk, force the muscles to work.

One visited you every week, he would sit by your bed while you would remain unmoved, staring blankly outside the window, where they placed your bed. The silence was killing you, but he understood that you needed space by how you refused to even look at him. Bitterly, you blamed them for not getting there on time.

He would grasp your hand in his, no matter how you fought the touch, and kept a tight hold on it.

As for your father, he only came to see you while you had been unconscious, then visited again three months after you woke up. His blue eyes pierced you with their intensity and he quietly told you that you were no longer fit to be a hunter. That was the crescendo of your desperation and as he walked out of your room, you shot out of bed in an attempt to catch him, to do something, calling his name as you fell on the floor and struggled to crawl on your elbows.

 _‘Please fix me!’_ you begged and begged _‘I don’t care if I die, please fix me! I’ll do anything!’_

He paused in the doorway and glanced back at you almost pitifully.

The next day, your surgeries started. The risk? You could die or forever be paralyzed, but there was a slim chance you could walk again due to advancements in medicine that had been made during the recent years. Futile to say, the pain after each operation was enough to drive one mad, but you would push through it with clenched teeth and tears in your eyes. One year passed like that, then one year and a half...and finally, two years. To think that monsters had magic that could heal shit like this so easily, it angered you. Asking for that kind of help was out of the question...unless you had a death wish for your father. 

You moved your toes first. That alone, it filled you with determination. Finally, _hope_. Like a lungful of fresh air.

And you milked that for all it was worth. Each day, you progressed. Each day, you would move further. Yes, you fell many times and even making a step hurt you as if millions of knives were piercing your flesh, muscles and bones, but that only strengthened your resolve.

The one thing you couldn’t get was a TV or a newspaper at least. No matter how many times you asked for reports of One or at least some knowledge of what was happening out there, the answer was always the same. _‘Don’t worry about that now. Everything is fine.’_

When you walked for the first time, you cried from happiness and when you advanced to jogging, well, that was the best feeling in the world. Guiltily, you realized you never even thought of what happened to Sans, but as you got better, you felt as if there was something that still missed, which prompted the face of the skeleton to flash through your mind.

Could anyone even blame you for not caring and selfishly focusing on yourself?

It was when two years passed that your father came to see you again, walked with you through the facility’s garden and sat with you on a bench. Calmly, he explained to you what happened to the world, spoke of the new laws and how busy the council had been, how Asgore’s trial went and how humankind adapted to the change. _‘Do they know about me? Do they know that I did all that?’_

 _‘No,’_ he had answered, watching the two robins bathing in the marble fountain of the garden.

It was for the better, he continued after a short pause, because you were his daughter and the anonymity would serve you well. He told you then that you could return to the field, but you would need to start from the bottom again. It was for your own good since your body was still recovering.

The fact that you weren’t Two anymore, hurt your pride. It hurt you more because you were the one that did all of this and you received nothing in exchange. Nobody asked what happened inside that barrier, nobody cared now.

He turned to you and patted your head in one of the rarest shows of affection he bestowed upon you. _‘I am proud of you and what you have accomplished. That is why I’m letting you back in….I know how much it means for you.’_

But did he know that it meant so much to you because of him? He was the one that instilled this spartan life into you, he was the one that made you who you were and shamefully, you couldn’t imagine your life any way else…

Wasn’t that pathetic? That you didn’t know how to be something else other than this?

You boldly leaned into his touch like the affection-starved fool that you have always been, took everything he gave you. Father’s praises meant the world to you, after all, and you were so...relieved that you were around him again. If he knew what you had done...that, that was a scary thought.

 _Sans._ Your heart skipped a beat again.

There was no time for you to think about that. He was out there, you knew, but he was of no importance, it was a fling, it was something desperate and filthy. That would never happen again, you had promised yourself.

And you were so thankful when you returned to the headquarters and was sent out on stupid insignificant missions again, starting from number Five-Hundred. A month later, you were Two-Hundred and the next month, you were Ninety-Two. You trained like your life depended on it, remained over hours at the office to finish reports, climbed over the other hunters like they were stepping stones, cared little for who you took down as you went higher in the hierarchy.

Five months later, you were number Twenty and that was a lucky number, because you had a major breakthrough within a case you had been assigned, catching a huge Asgore follower that had murdered five human women and did some unquestionable acts with afterwards. Gruesome as it was, you dusted him slowly, limb for limb. After that, you were promoted to Ten and then Eight.

And now? Two again.

Through sheer force of will, you tackled down all of the obstacles in your way and never once backed off, stood tall and patient. Nobody knew of your hardships and nobody knew of your accomplishments. Your sweat, blood and tears had paved the path you were walking now and truth be told, it proved a good distraction.

Until seven nights ago when your heart skipped beat after beat.

 _When you felt your chest warming up and your stomach knotting._ At that time, you were on monster territory, as it was dubbed by the Anti-Monster Organization, and undercover, testing the waters with your new assignment.

_New assignment on which you spent the past three months._

You haven’t felt that since... _since Sans_ and the intensity, it made you want to escape it. It frightened you and reminded you of what happened; that’s also why you never once looked for Ally or the other kids, you were afraid of what they represented, finding satisfaction in simply reading about them from reports. So you ran off, dodged people on the street and got as far as you could, until there was no more burning sensation in your chest.

“Howdy, sorry I’m late!”

You were snapped out of your thoughts at your assignment’s voice. Turning around, you smiled a well practiced smile “Hey...don’t worry, it’s only fair after last week. We’re even now,” you spoke mirthfully.

The monster stood straight and grinned, his eyes lightening up. “Golly, you don’t have to feel bad about that, I get it! You had to go, family is more important than anything!”

His voice lowered a bit and you couldn’t help but notice the slight tint of sadness.

“Thanks, AZ,”

Your assignment was a boss monster, found imprisoned in some made-up lab under the City Hall. When hunters raided the place, they found him, cowering in a corner, naked and trembling, scared out of his mind. Brought into the rehab, it was discovered he was...well, _he said_ he was Toriel and Asgore’s son, hence his name, Asriel, a play on both of their names. He had this unbelievable, crazy, story of how he was a flower, how he died and lost his SOUL, how he could do unimaginable things, how he tried to help the fallen humans, how the first human lived with him and his parents.

How was _he_ alive? The chronicles said he was killed and that’s how the Underground went to shit under Asgore’s grief. Besides, all monsters knew of the tragedy that befell the royal family, so there was no doubt this one knew it too.

He was cooperative the whole time he was kept imprisoned and then rehabilitated, one of the best mannered monsters in the program, he showed compassion and sadness, regret at what had happened and expressed himself easily. Even claiming that Alphys was the one to resurrect him, which, upon interrogation, the aforementioned monster denied everything vehemently. That theory was scrubbed away, consequently, it was underlined that the subject believed he was someone he was not. His story was bonkers and he couldn’t be their dead son, just another boss monster like them, from the same monster species, that was just pretending to be him. Maybe he had some kind of mental illness or hit his head, an identity crisis, anything. Going by what his file said, he was certain he became himself again a day or two before the hunters came into the picture and ‘saved’ him. Said that Alphys tried something new and force-fed his flower body, a SOUL. It was also odd how he avoided introducing himself by his ‘name’ to other monsters, almost as if he is ashamed. Regardless of that, the monsters didn’t seem to recognize him, name or not, but they were wary of him, as if they knew he was stronger than them.

You didn’t buy the sci-fi fairytale either, but you had to keep an open-mind regarding his condition. Anything was possible and as far as you knew, he was a rarity as there were no more boss monsters around, so keeping a close eye on him was a must.

Granted, he also occupied only a small amount of your time, given that he was only a ‘check-on and keep close’ case. Your only orders were to fish for intelligence, figure out what made him tick, pay careful attention and see if he slips some, tell you things he wouldn’t normally say to anyone else, not even the people at the monster rehabilitation center.

So far, you were right on track. You ‘accidentally’ bumped into him at the bus stop in monster territory, rode the same bus as him and made small talk at first. Monsters being with humans wasn’t an usual occurrence, but it was an occurrence, therefore, it didn’t seem weird for you to talk to him at all.

He seemed genuinely nice and open.

Then, you didn’t make contact for at least a week, bumping into him ‘coincidentally’ again, at a local market in that same area. Laughed about how it must be fate and exchanged phone numbers. You met again and became closer, as friends at first. Didn’t want to force the approach, not when you were establishing a bond with him, from which you wanted to extract intel. Was it wrong that you were doing this? Truthfully, you didn't care.

As you took his offered arm and went inside the cafe, you couldn’t help questioning yourself, however. With Sans, it was different, it felt different, so it couldn’t be the fact that he was a monster that had you so on edge. The buzz of magic was there, but...not in the way Sans’ was.

A lingering voice inside your deepest corner of the mind whispered that you missed him.

Or was it the feeling he gave you that you missed more?

The patrons inside didn’t give you odd looks as you would probably get if you went to a human specific locale, that and they were mostly monsters anyway. Quietly, you took the seat at the back, by the window, a strategic position that rendered you able to see the door and the whole place. 

“S-should I order for both of us? No table service here…” he fumbled awkwardly with his scarf and looked at the counter sheepishly. It was only a week and a half ago that he came forth and sputtered out that he was feeling closer than a friend to you. Maybe you should have backed off then and vanished, but...you were determined to find out everything you could, so you took advantage of the new boundaries he was trying to establish.

_You accepted a first date._

It ended up being a walk through the rain that drenched the both of you to your bones. Then he invited you over, stumbling over his words again and letting you know he didn’t mean it like _that_ , but just for a cup of tea.

You accepted that as well, found out he lived in a small, modest and cozy flat.

There were buttercups in a vase on his kitchen counter and he fidgeted shyly with the teapot, letting his eyes wander over you in short glances and awkward smiles that showed too many razor sharp fangs. The whole scene was endearing, you decided, so you helped the poor goat make the tea..

_‘It’s...it’s the first time I’m...doing this with someone...anyone actually...haha...I’m sorry, I’m so bad at this..I never...never did...I never do this...I mean, not like I could...I just…’_

You took pity on him and placed a hand over his trembling hand-shaped paw, with a reassuring smile. _‘It’s fine, haven’t done this before either…’_

And for once, you had told him the truth, because you never did this. When Sans asked you on a date back then, in Snowdin, it was the first time anyone did, actually. It was inappropriate and crude and tactless, but it had you flustered and eventually brought you in bed with him. This one? This one didn’t make you feel that way, there was no question about it and you were pretty sure this ‘relationship’ wouldn’t escalate.

It didn’t.

“Sure! I’d like a cup of black tea, with honey and milk on the side,”

His face brightened up and he nodded, finally nudging the scarf off and standing up to go and order from the rabbit monster barista.

As soon as he left, your smile dropped and you turned to the window with a bitter expression on your face. Last night, you dreamed of _him_. His red pinpricks and his grin, his voice and then being impaled by that fucking trident. Nightmares, they were happening often and you concluded they were some form of PTSD from that experience. Sometimes you would wake up screaming, you would sweat profusely and have small panic attacks if the silence was too... _silent_. You couldn’t stand that.

There was also the scar, where the weapon went through and the ones from the surgeries.

You were honestly ashamed of having these symptoms and hid it as best as you could, because how could a hunter have such a thing? You felt that if you told anyone this, you would be taken off the field. That was not an option. It kept you distracted, you needed that more than anything.

 _Mmmm_. Started snowing.

“Here you go!” Asriel spoke up as he sat back down with two mugs in his hands, sliding one to you just as you turned and smiled at him. “Thanks. Oh, this smells so nice,” you let the aroma warm you up.

“You should try the one called strawberry september then! It smells incredible,”

You wanted to forget about that day, you wanted to forget about Sans and Asgore and everything that went to shit during those 24 hours. Numbness spread through you and you looked down at your drink.

 _Focus on the task._ Tonight you would also have to be alert for the case you had been handed to work on as a side assignment. After this ‘date’, naturally.

With monsters free on the surface now, divided in their beliefs, it was a challenge for the organization to keep them all in check. Gerson, the new appointed ‘leader’ or ambassador as humans put it, was also having a hard time keeping those radicals in check.

Hopefully things wouldn’t escalate and if they did…

Your eyes fixed the boss monster in front of you. Maybe the organization had the right idea with keeping him close, maybe he could one day take the role and act as an example for the others, lead them. Gerson was no boss monster, he didn’t have the strength to put the misbehaving ones in check, but AZ, he could, he had the potential.

If the organization could control him and he became a ruler for the others, then they could control them as well and everything would run smoothly.

“Golly! It’s snowing,” the goat monster exclaimed with a dorky smile on his snout, watching the really small snowflakes powdering the sidewalk outside.

“Yeah, they say we’re gonna have a mellow winter this year,”

“You think it’s gonna build up?” he turned back to you, watching you closely. Compared to Asgore, his horns were backwards and curled down over his head, his eyes did remind you of Toriel’s in a weird way, they were crimson and fierce, with a black sclera, just like the markings on his cheeks and wrists, he had a broad back and strong arms, but was not bulky like Asgore. He looked intimidating, if you went by appearance, but as you got in his good graces, you realized he was...incredibly kind and selfless. You simply guessed that this is how the ones of his species looked like generally and put the matter to rest. Add the ‘howdy’ part to the list...and ‘golly’. 

“If it goes on through the night, then yes,” you responded swiftly and added the milk to your tea, stirring it afterwards and then fumbling with the honey packet.

Seeing your struggle, he leaned over and plucked it from your fingers, ripping it open with ease and offering it back to you, careful with his claws. “Thanks~”

“No problem!”

A few more minutes passed in silence, with just the background noise of talking patrons as a soothing tune. Surprisingly, you enjoyed the time with him. He never prodded the information out of you, never peppered the conversation uselessly or had any expectations from you regarding this...whatever it was.

You on the other hand, always snuck a question or two between topics, feigning curiosity. Who would suspect a curious human, right?

But talking to him came easily, so that was nice.

“So...umm, I always meant to ask you this….h-have you ever...e-ever had someone you..uh...l-liked?”

You almost choked on your tea, recovering quickly as you looked up at him with widened eyes and coughing lightly. He visibly tensed and reached out, as if to try and help you. “I’m s-sorry for the sudden --”

“No, no, it’s...it’s okay!” you waved your hand dismissively and cleared your throat.

Oh boy, spoke too soon.

He became really flustered and fumbled with the cup in front of him, eyes shifting to the side, like a little kid that had been scolded. Secretly you wondered how old he really was.

“To be honest…” you began, cringing “Yes? Well...it was more like a ‘in the moment’ situation…” as you continued, air quoting, he turned his eyes back to you, sheepishly. “But it never...got anywhere…”

Not like it could, anyway.

“Oh…”

You weren’t sure what to make of his answer.

 

...

 

Later that night, you sat down on your couch and flipped the papers from within the case you had been given. The rest of the ‘date’ went by quietly, ended with both of you going separate ways and you offering the goat monster a little incentive in the form of a kiss on his cheek's mark.

He was so flustered that he barely managed to sputter out a goodbye, before he dashed right out of there in fast strides. Too forward too soon?

Eh, not like it really mattered.

Ice blue eyes scanned the photos attached to the files, those of a certain purple fire elemental you knew too well.

“Hello there, you bag of dicks,” you mused under your breath. The fucker was able to open up his own casino in monster territory, by the edges of the city, somehow slipped justice as he feigned having been pressured by Asgore to do all the shit he did. Managed to go through the rehabilitation process with no issues and now he claimed to be a whole ‘new monster’ or a ‘better version of himself’ whenever the monthly check-up showed at his locale’s door.

His books were clean at first glance, but you knew better. Grillby was one slippery motherfucker.

A visit was due, however --”I’d end up running into _him_ …”

Ashamed and annoyed, you threw the folder on the coffee table and sneered. It frightened you to feel that way again, it frightened you to even see him or Ally, it frightened you to even watch the clips of Asgore’s trial and for a hunter of monsters to be afraid like this was...unprecedented. You were too prideful to ask for help and maybe scared that they would find out and fling you to the side lines again.

You worked too hard to end up running away from it all like a coward.

The only suitable course of action was to face your fears head on, get past this. But this stupid human condition made you stop, made you hover and slink away, back into a hole of desperation and fear.

No, you weren’t ready for this, mentally.

But could you really refuse an assignment like this? Grillby was suspected of doing some very unorthodox things behind the counter and some humans were found dead in dark alleyways, all having had gambled at the casino previously. That was the only connection, apart from no SOUL and lifeless.

Of course you knew Grillby well enough to draw your own conclusions and this folder landed in your lap exclusively because you had fooled the fire sprite before, because you knew how he worked and what he could do.  
Was it worth it?

One was going to join you, but...still, was it worth it?

You frowned.


	2. when there's blood in the water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello! I'm here with an update!  
> sorry it took so long, currently looking for work, so i'm a bit more busy than usual...and stressed orz  
> umm, anyway! thank you all for the comments, i'll reply to them all today  
> without further ado, here's the second chapter
> 
> song to go with this : AWAY - Honest To Gød (feat. Charity)

He went back to that place the next day.

And the day after and the next, until a whole week of finding nothing passed him by. After having stood in the same spot as he had that night for the past days, Sans decided it was time for another strategy in the place of the one he so stubbornly followed. He easily calculated and pinpointed the location of where the SOUL must have been so it could resonate at the range it did with his. The area was nothing other than a bus station, however, there was also an intersection a few meters ahead, but that was it.

Could it be possible for it to have been inside a bus?

He made quick read of all the number of buses that stopped at this particular station, remembered the time that he felt what he felt with some approximation and was able to come up with just one line, one bus that came through at that hour. _B2_.

The route of the bus was etched onto the placard, along with the hours it would arrive at said station, on each day. Brow bones drew together into a frown.

It came from the center of the city, specifically, near the Anti-Monster organization. He knew because he used to take the bus there as well, from that station in particular, when he’d go and linger around that area, two years or so back. At that thought, he shifted uncomfortably and stuffed his cold phalanges inside the pockets of his black sweatpants.

The conclusion that he rationally drew from all of this was that this coincidence couldn’t be a coincidence and his SOUL bitterly fell and thrummed at what this meant. Quietly, he sat down on the plastic bench, flicked a cigarette out of his jacket’s pocket and lit it up when it was settled between razor sharp teeth.

Had she been alive all this time? He didn’t know exactly what he felt, but it resembled rage, slow, burning, mingled with betrayal and something else he didn’t know.

Despite this, he remained still, calm on the outside, as opposed to the storm brewing in his SOUL. The smoke lifted into the crisp cold air in elegant swirls, from his nasal cavity and mandible.

All he did for her and she...she would do this? “this some kinda fucked up joke?”

 _No._ She couldn’t be alive, maybe it was a pattern similar with hers, maybe he imagined it. His _sweetheart_ would have never done this to him. Dimming red eye lights flitted over the white powdery snow on the pavement underneath his red sneakers. The laces were getting wet, he forgot to tie them, too lazy and the yellow socks were getting soggy from having stood in the snow for too long...that and the scrappy old soles. “she ain’t that good of a comedian…” he reasoned quietly.

Sans tilted his head up towards the grey sky and exhaled slowly. “nah she ain’t…”

...

  
Later, when darkness swallowed the light and the cold became unbearable for many as it settled over with the promise of freezing temperatures, the skeleton was busy swirling the monster-made whiskey in his glass, up at the bar counter inside Grillby’s new place.

There were some humans by the poker tables, some trying their luck with the machines and whatnot, but monsters reigned within this locale. Not like they could kick the human patrons out, unless they wanted the hunters all up in their business for real this time.

Grillby was smart, observant, he was manipulative and diplomatic when it was advantageous.

Naturally, he caught onto Sans’ reason for moping around faster than the skeleton was comfortable with. Granted, he probably suspected way back when the barrier was still up and Two had left him. Sneering, he gulped some of the alcohol and slammed the glass back on the counter, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

He never said anything about it, not directly at least. That’s why Sans avoided his casino as best as he was able, but now that the corner bar was no longer an option, here he was. The chatter and faint music felt soothing, and the amount of clients kept Grillby occupied, his jagged smile no longer -- “My, my...Sans, what brings you here so thirsty, _old friend_?” the purple flames crackled as the white pupiless eyes fixed him hauntingly.

“can’t a skeleton getta drink without bein’ scrutinized?” he snapped at the burning sprite, earning him a hiss. “Don’t know, is he going to bring along some _unwanted_ guests? I know for a fact that he likes living on the edge of the _knife_ , so to speak,”

There it was. The sucker knew and he made it no secret that he did. Sans shot him a murderous glare and the fire elemental’s crooked smile grew wider, flames flaring.

“one of these days, i’m gonna fuckin--” but as he went with his threat, his eyes halted on the TV behind Grillby, where the news were rolling, a clip of some hunters bringing in two monsters, cuffed, playing, with the reporter speaking about it. What caught his attention, however, was one of the hunters, moving their head towards where the camera was and then quickly turning back. The distinctive roman number for two, clear as day, on the screen, in a split second. _But that second was enough._

Instantly, all the lights inside the casino flickered and the light bulbs burst, the cold, threatening buzz of magic, like static, weighing heavily on everyone inside. All chatter died and an ominous silence fell over the locale just as a deafening crash resounded. Grillby, being the only one visible in the darkness, was seen backing off from the counter, as three sharp bones, engulfed in red, stuck out of the TV.

Sans’ eye was flashing and burning as he sat calmly on his stool, blankly staring at where the TV had once been. “heh... _joke’s on me_ , ain’t it?”

His grin grew wider and his grip on the glass tighter.

“hey, grillbs…” he turned the flaming eye towards the fire elemental “put it on my tab, yea?” his magic pulsed and the glass broke into pieces under the pressure. Grillby’s smile was wiped from his face, but he nodded nonetheless, adjusting his vest with a weary expression over his face.

Sans simply tapped the counter and slid off the stool, shoved his hands into his pockets and marched towards the exit, monsters and humans dodging away from his path, until he was outside.

That _bitch_. If it was her…

 _If it was her_ , then she would wish she were dead.

 

* * *

 

 

How the fuck did this even work? You impatiently paced behind the glass window of the interrogation room for what felt like the one hundredth time. One was inside with the two monsters that you had captured. Too easy, it was all too easy and it was driving you mad.

As soon as you began your assignment regarding Grillby, somehow, you ended up following a trail. It was suspicious as hell, because it felt like someone specifically left those crumbles for you two to follow. Both you and One did that, which ended up finding these two guilty of having killed those humans in the alleys around Grillby’s, without involving the fire elemental.

Beside that, somehow, the media had been tipped about it just as you two brought the two monsters for questioning at the headquarters.

 _Exposure._ You had been exposed on live TV, not like anyone knew it was you, but the feeling, it was….it made you jittery and angry. What if...what if --”Fuck this!”

You finally cracked and left the hidden room, just to fling the door of the interview room open and slam it shut behind you, gaining the attention of both your partner and the two monsters. One made to stand up from his chair, but you strode up to him with purpose and pushed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t,”

The two monsters, one looking like a water elemental with long flowing hair over their eyes and the other looking like a buff lizard, watched you with weary eyes. The elemental’s hands fiddled uncomfortably under the intense gaze of your visor and mask.

“Now let’s stop with this bullshit and get to the point already, because I’m getting really... _really_ annoyed,” your distorted voice, dripping with venom had the buff lizard flinch away and lean back in the chair. How irritating it was that you couldn’t use torture to get information anymore, they had rights now and dusting them for no good reason was a big fat no. Judging by how dumb they looked, you weren’t sure they were aware of that, however.

“Do you know what my partner used to do to monsters like you that would not comply?” you turned your visor on One, who watched you quietly, relaxed in his seat. “He would dust one of them, take some of their remains and sprinkle them nicely over food or drinks. Then he would take those to the other captured monster, feed them their kind...that was really fun to watch,” you unsheathed a knife from your harness and stood straight “Especially when they would realize what they ate or drank...we broke so many of them...sometimes, we even force fed them, just for shits and giggles,” both monsters inched away from from the table, avoiding your visor, getting more and more uncomfortable.

The blade was flipped in your hand playfully and they caught the motion with frightened eyes, hyper-aware of your intent, because that was the bane of their existence. You chuckled and casually walked over to one corner of the room, reaching up to the camera cables and swiftly cutting a wire. “Oops, looks like we have no working camera in here. Would be a pity for no one to see what happens...we’ll just tell them you attacked us, it was self-defense, dust you both,”

Their statistics appeared over your visor, how many strikes it would take to end them. “Ah, but I feel nostalgic. Maybe we could dust one and then force what's left down the other’s throat, I love hearing them plead, what do you say One?”

You walked over to the table again, slowly, predatory, until you were beside the buff lizard, leaning a hip on the metallic rim. “How about…” you placed the knife underneath the monster’s chin and forced its head up, wide eyes on you “...I start with _you_?”

“We didn’t do anything!” the water elemental suddenly screeched, voice in a high pitch and water looking as if it was melting all over their body. “You don’t know what’s going on there! You have no idea! He would have killed us! We had to...we didn’t have a choice, _he_ will come for us!”

“Shut up!” the lizard snapped, panic written all over its face. You flipped the knife so the blade was at the buff monster’s throat, mask on the elemental “Who is _he_?” you hissed. One stood up as well, strategically standing on the elemental’s side. It was time to force out a confession, lock Grillby away. 

“This isn’t just about Grillby, you stupid ass white face! This is so much bigger!” the elemental cried out again, struggling against the anti-magic cuffs. “Tell me then!” you pressed the blade harder against their buddy’s neck --” _He who speaks in_ \--” suddenly, the monster you held down with your knife, jerked forward and plunged its spiked tail into the elemental, while also forcing its own throat into your knife.

They both turned to dust and you stumbled back with widened eyes behind your mask and dropped the knife.

One promptly removed his mask and watched as the particles spilled from the chair to the ground, his green eyes as widened as yours. “What…”

You also removed your mask and looked at him, ice blues sweeping the scene with incredulity. “What the fuck just happened?”

One didn’t even bother to chide you for the language, only stared bewildered at what just happened. The lizard monster was more scared of _‘him’_ than it was of dying, chose to kill their compadre before they spilled the beans. Here you thought you had something, after days of interrogating them by regulations and finding nothing.

“You know that those cameras were not even working, right?” your partner finally spoke, circling the table “I know, the ones behind the glass do, however,” you snapped at him, not exactly in the mood for the impending lecture. It was hardly the time.

“And you know you broke the new regulations regarding monsters, right?”

“Your _new_ interrogation regulations were not getting us anywhere!”

One sighed and sat back down, fingers interlaced under his chin, eyes on the two chairs across from him, where piles of dust sat. “Look, this is my case, I’ll figure it out on my own and that’s that, you don’t have to help me with anything,” you crossed your arms over your chest and glared away.

“Yeah, I can see how you _figured it out_ already, do you think I wouldn’t have liked to dust them myself? There’s a reason the new regulations have been put in place and right now, I believe you need my help more than ever,” he sneered up at you, red curls falling into his eyes as he spoke with spite in his tone. “I told him you weren’t ready to get back on the field, _Ava_ , you think you’re hiding it well? Think I don’t see how you struggle?”

Woah there. What brought up this fucking topic? A deathly look feel over your face as your gaze turned to meet his. “Ready? Struggle? I was in that fucking hell hole because of _you_ in the first place! You think I wanted to be trapped in there? I was fucking alone and did everything I could to manage! No one even knows it was me that did all that, nobody knows who really saved those kids or those women, nobody knows who made this possible! All I got was a kick in the nuts and a nice view from the sidelines!”

“If you hadn’t been so _reckless_ as to try and free those women before the due date planned, then you --” “ _I would have what?_ Had to stay undercover some more? I would have been trapped in there regardless! And what about you? _You pieces of shit_ didn’t even bother to find out a way inside, you didn’t even try!” by this point, your voice was hoarse and your eyes were stinging.

But you wouldn’t allow yourself to cry before One. He sensed the change in tone, however and shot up to his feet, walking up to you so close that your chests touched as you glared into each other’s eyes. He was always intimidating, always trying to make you submit somehow, either by towering over you or saying things that would make you back off. More often than not, you cowered away and gave in. This time, you squared your shoulders and met him halfway.

“You think you’re gonna make me shut up by pulling this shit on me? It’s not working, _One_.”

He didn’t say anything, just narrowed his eyes, lips in a tight line and jaw set.

“Giving me the silent treatment now? Yeah, that will definitely work, _fucking brilliant_ \--” his hand suddenly snatched your chin, thumb and index pressing tight on your jaw as he yanked you closer.

“Mind your _fucking_ language, _Two_ , I don’t appreciate your tone either,” he hissed, uncomfortably close to your face, his green orbs lit with bubbling and controlled rage. Your expression darkened with hostility, hand coming up to claw at his wrist to let you go, the other reaching for a knife again.

“Don’t even _try_ ,” he warned, having read your body language and intent already. There was some conflict on his face, his teeth clenched and he shoved you away, letting go completely and storming out of the interrogation room.

What the fuck was that about?

You frowned and rubbed your mandible, feeling the impressions where his fingers dug into your flesh. Those were going to bruise.

Fucking One pulling this kinda shit on you.

At least you knew you were onto something concerning this case.

...

When you got back to your flat, you immediately started to work after you changed in some more comfortable clothes, going from the police database to the Anti-Monster organization’s system and database, looking for similar cases that had been 'solved' by other hunters.

While the databases were being searched using several tag-words, you quickly brewed yourself some coffee and sat down in the living room, before the large glass windows overlooking the headquarters. Being on the tenth floor sure had its benefits. Shimmying into the armchair, you kicked your feet up on the coffee table and leaned back in an attempt to relax as you watched the grey dark skies.

So far you had some information on the one behind this --it was a him, it wasn’t Grillby specifically, he was scary enough to make dying look like a trip to Hawaii and he didn’t like snitches. They made it sound like there was a whole operation happening, besides the one Grillby might run, a group of some sort, letting their own take the fall just to protect the ins and outs of the whole thing.

And what the hell was up with One?

Not that you weren’t used to him being violent, you knew very well how much he controlled himself in certain situations, but this was new, he looked conflicted.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The ringing sound had you snap out of it. Your phone…

You started looking around for it, until you saw it on the couch, screen lit up. Groaning, you stood up and plopped down by it, unlocking it and letting your eyes roam over the text message you just received.

Oh, AZ, or Asriel, as he called himself in the folder you were given.

You forgot you had to meet him tonight. Well, you were neck-deep into the case and busy, so could anyone really blame you?

_From : GoatBoy_

_Hi! Are you coming soon? How is your mother? Better, I hope_   
_Anyway, let me know if something happened // smiley face //_

Ugh. How long had he been waiting for? A quick glance at the clock made it clear. Half an hour.

_To: GoatBoy_   
_From: xxx-xxxx-xxxx_

_Hey, sorry! I can’t make it tonight, boss had me working late, I feel so horrible_   
_I’ll make it up to you, promise! Maybe tomorrow? Tea and pie on me!_

_Ps: mother is feeling better, thanks for asking!_

There, done. Maybe some wine was better for the occasion. The phone beeped again, but it was drown out by the sound the laptop made, having found matches for what you were searching. Text message forgotten, you shot up from the couch and went back into the kitchen at the island, where the device was, sat up on the stool and placed the mug of coffee aside.

Holy.. _.fuck._

50 matches. Your eyes widened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please kudos and comment, bookmark and everything else if you liked it!  
> ya'll know i love your feedback~ peace <3


	3. and i wasted roses on you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there guys! yourtrashqueen here with an update  
> seewhatididthere? huehue --anyway! things are getting interesting   
> there might be smut in the next i dunno yet, we'll see~   
> without further ado, the update!
> 
> song to go with this : JT Roach - Wasted Roses (prod. Stephen)

_Chirp_

_Chirp_

The light of the morning quietly seeped through frilly curtains, danced along the purple carpeted floor and slowly caressed the black duvet, tossed around, one furry leg over it and one furry arm reaching out over bed’s edge. The form beneath shifted and curled a bit, before the cover was thrown off and the head of a prince rose up from the four pillows that he had gathered through the night.

Red pupils dilated at the sun rays and a clawed paw came up to shelter his scrunched up face. Another day on the surface, another tiring, exhausting and energy-sucking, day. He shuffled over the bed and hung his legs to the floor, remaining seated and letting his elbows rest on his knees, half-lidded eyes staring blankly at one fallen pillow on the ground.

Another lonely day.

He sighed and rubbed his face and snout, fur ruffling up at how carelessly he did so. His life changed so much, since Frisk, especially. When the child that fell last was captured, so was he and in his flower form, he couldn’t do much. Not against that…” _Smiley trashbag…_ ” he mused in remembrance.

Alphys kept him locked in her stupid lab, away from everyone and anyone, in darkness, deprived from anything that could make him feel even a bit better. As far as he knew, not even the king knew of this. She had him go through many unsuccessful experiments that broke him and tore him and put him back together so many times that he almost lost his mind.

He couldn’t tell the difference between dark and light anymore, from sanity and insanity. When the hunters found him, he was cowered in a corner, rocking back and forth, crying, scared, mumbling incoherently --or so he was told. It was during the rehabilitation that he slowly realized he was no longer a flower, that he had limbs again, that he looked like himself again; slowly, he remembered the horrors that happened to him, the...amalgamates, the pain he endured, the vision of Frisk being killed, their SOUL tore from their chest.

Asriel shook his head, ears flattened back at the memory and brows knitted together.

“It’s in the past…” he reasoned with himself, trying to pull himself out of that state. Besides, the surface wasn’t that bad, not since he met her. He was on his way home, from the bakery where he worked as a baker in the kitchen, when he met her at the bus station. She was the one to talk first, smiling at him and rubbing her arms, whining about how cold it was. The little chat went on during the bus ride that she got on as well, they shared two seats and parted ways with a little smile and a goodbye. He thought he’d never see her again after that.

Fate had other plans, because a week later, while he was doing his groceries, she stumbled into him with her own cart. They laughed about it and exchanged numbers, alas, him with some reluctance. She had a strength to herself, she was bold and beautiful, independent and he couldn’t help feeling attracted to that. He did have his doubts; a pretty human talking to him and willingly seeing him, it was almost too good to be true, but when she kept coming and staying, he let go of the suspicions.

The goat monster smiled at the memory and found the energy to stand up from his bed.

Never in his life had he felt these things, like butterflies in his stomach and the inability to talk coherently when she was looking at him. He’d never been so embarrassed with himself than that day when he sputtered and stuttered his emotions to her, to _Frederica_ , as he learned her name was.

Stars, this body of his, it reminded him of when he brought Chara to the surface, that horrible moment that changed everything forever. Looking in the mirror attached to his wardrobe, he sighed and lowered his dark gaze. The stripes of black swirled around his broad shoulders, around his biceps and wrists, meeting at his chest in a symbol of his SOUL, a heart.

Ironic.

Today was a free day, however, they had made plans for lunch and he wouldn’t allow his thoughts and loneliness to bring him down, not when he was with her. Somehow, he felt that bringing his baggage to her or even talking about some of his problems, would make her run away, so he avoided speaking about his issues, to make her feel comfortable and happy around him.

She didn’t need his problems when she had her own to deal with.

More often than not, she worked very late at the office, she was a secretary at a corporation and ended up staying over-hours to finish her tasks, then there were the problems with her mother, getting sick all the time. Family was more important than anything, he had let her know when she called him to cancel that time. He didn’t get to spend it with his folks or be there for them, and look where that got him --his father, having gone mad, ruled through fear and intimidation, tried to conquer and enslave humanity, his mother, died at his hands, having gone mad herself, kidnapping children, killing them. When he learned about the horrible things they have done, it saddened him so much...especially since it was done in his name, for him, to avenge him.

Sickened, that’s how he felt.

At his father’s trial, that was showed on TV, he cried himself to sleep. The guilt, the self-loathing, the helplessness and loneliness took their toll on him that night. Nobody knew how much he struggled to stay himself, to stay positive and try to do some good where his parents did wrong.

But no matter what he would do, it could never wash away the wounds his father left behind.

He never introduced himself with his name, never looked other monsters in the eyes and strayed away from contact with them. Yes, he was a coward, he was afraid, it’s not like anyone knew who he was or could recognize him, he did grow up, he did mature, and everyone knew that the king’s son was dead.

Honestly, he was fine with that. _Asriel was better off dead._

Last night, Frederica had to cancel in favor of work again and even if he felt a little pang of irritation, he understood. A vase ended up being smashed into a wall and buttercups were sprawled on the floor, but he understood. She didn’t stand him up because she wanted to, but because she was forced to, by the circumstances.

Idly, he traced the black mark of his left cheek and razor sharp fangs turned into a smile at the memory it brought. She had kissed his cheek.

That meant she liked him.

He showered, taking his time under the warm water and then brewed himself some tea in the kitchen. Today was a beautiful winter day and the sun, even if not very merciful, was shining on a sky with scattered clouds.

Everything was going to be okay.

 

* * *

 

 

Honestly, Sans was expecting anything and everything while he waited patiently across the street, in the alleyway between two buildings, perched casually on a fire escape and smoking a cigarette.

His position allowed him to view that accursed bus station clearly, without being seen at the same time.

The betrayal he felt, the hurt and rage, kept at bay only by his desire to return the favor, made his phalanges tremble slightly. At the same time, he couldn’t help the thrum of his SOUL, the possibility that she was alive slowly sinking in.

Was she really this cruel? Did he mean absolutely nothing to her? Was it all just a sick and twisted game for her to get him to help? He was actually impressed with how vile she was if that were the case, impressed with how duplicitous and manipulative she had been to twist him around her finger like that.

Going as far as to let a monster fuck her.

That right there was dedication, he could respect that. Last night he found the first willing monster bitch and poured out everything he had into fucking her raw, believing he’d be better if he did and only ending up feeling guilt in his gut. Since the huntress ‘died’ he’d had a few flings here and there, if only to attempt and be himself again, get her out of his mind, move on, but now, now that he knew there was the possibility that she was alive...it tore him in ways he never knew could.

There was a storm of feelings, each assaulting him and confusing him.

It felt like he cheated on her, but she deserved it, yet there was anger laced with guilt, there was this need to make her pay for every fucking moment of desperation and loneliness he felt. All the tossing and turning, all the sleepless nights and the nightmares and her haunting eyes.

He was a disaster on two feet, a hazard to himself and he had been fine with slowly destroying himself...but now…

Now, he was _furious_. That fucking _whore_ lied to him, used him, his paranoia whispered in his mind, she abandoned him and screwed with him, made him feel, made him weak and stupid. But was it really her? He had to be sure, he had to get his answers he had to--

_Thump. Thump._

_Thump._

There it was, he flinched at the sensation that spread through his bones.

Across the street, at the station, her SOUL pulsed and she turned this way and that, clearly in distress, as soon as she climbed out of that bus. She had her now blonde hair up in a ponytail, like she used to wear it when he met her, dressed in a leather jacket and tight jeans, a sweater and high heeled boots, with red lipstick on; and her body, _oh_ , he knew her body, he knew her face, lips and her shape. The wider hips, the little middle and the well sculpted arms and legs, he knew them all so well. She could feel him just like he could feel her and she was becoming agitated, her SOUL reaching out just like his was, in longing.

The skeleton clutched his shirt with a grunt and his eye sockets narrowed as he watched her from afar. Sweat rolled down his skull and he felt that familiar pull that had him panting like a fool and wishing he could worship the very ground she walked on. Then there was the sharpness of rage, like her blades, piercing through him.

She left abruptly, jogged away from the bus station, as if she knew something was wrong and she had to go as far as humanly possible for her own good. Must have been the spreading static of his magic that had her subconscious perking up, the fight or flight instinct putting her in motion.

He followed her relentlessly, keeping the distance, prying and cutting red pupils searching for her on the streets, catching her looking back and becoming unsettled, running from him, sprinting through alleys and crowds the closer he got. Oh, she knew she was being hunted down, didn’t she? "should've cut those wings when i got the chance,"

_Thump. Thump._

With a wicked grin, he pursued, hungry, famished, itching to let her know he knew. Wanting so bad to see her face, to see her understand what she had done --killing her, claiming her fucking SOUL in the most animalistic ways he knew how.

She was going to pay.

_Thump._

She was going to fucking pay for all of this.

_…._

“wha’?” he paused on a balcony ledge, the feeling lost. He almost forgot how good she was at this cat and mouse game. His eye sockets went completely black, empty and his grin widened menacingly.

“c’mon sweetheart, i ain’t gonna hurt’cha…”

He crouched and tried to focus, but there was nothing.

_heh._

“‘course…” no amount of blonde hair or piles of clothes could hide her SOUL from his eyes.

...

  
It was him.

Staring at your now trembling hands, you cowered further inside the corner store, between shelves, cold sweat slipping down your temples and back. You had felt the killing intent, the chill that ran down your spine, the pull and how your heart skipped. Your breathing became labored as you dodged through the streets and hid like the coward you were, on the verge of a full-on panic attack.

Somehow you managed to lose him, because the feeling was gone, but... _but_ you weren’t okay. In fact, you were a shaking mess, pale and pupils dilated, adrenaline making your legs feel numb. You’d felt him with every stop of the bus, the closer it got, the harder it was to breathe.

As soon as you got off, you knew he was close, you could feel him through your limbs, every pore, the static and the heaviness that followed you as you ran.

How did he know? How did he find you? You were in disguise, nobody knew how you looked, so how did he pick you out so easily. Did he feel you like you felt him whenever he was close?

The point was, he knew and he was royally pissed.

_And you didn’t want to see him._

Having a civil conversation about it was out of the question too, if you went by how he hounded you around and how he pressed his presence on you. Besides, you didn’t trust your reaction if you saw him and it made you so ashamed how mentally unstable you were being.

How was it even possible to be affected like this? Asriel was a monster too, but never have you felt him like you did Sans.

Shit. Speak not his name. You mentally cursed and peeked from behind the mustard shelf, a hand over where your heart was. Ducking back behind the yellow bottles, you quickly fished for your phone and messaged AZ, Asriel, whatever his name was.

_To: GoatBoy_   
_From: xxx-xxxx-xxxx_

_Hey, can we meet in front of the --_

You quickly looked around for any sign of the store’s name and found the cashier giving you a quirked eyebrow. You sneered at him and gestured a ‘ _what the fuck do you want_ ’, which he took graciously and locked his gaze elsewhere.

Satisfied, you continued your message with the name of the store and chose to wait patiently right where you were. If Sans was still on your ass, then surely, a boss monster would deter him from a confrontation and after this luncheon whatever it was, you would book it back home and stay away from this area.

_From: GoatBoy_

_Sure thing! //smileyface//_

What a dork. Despite this, you had to figure a way out of this weird radar thing between you and the skeleton. A fling was just a fling and yes, maybe you misguided him into thinking it was more, but now you were free and he was free and it was over. Maybe it was also because of the last time you saw each other, when you literally almost died and the hunters raided the whole Ebott and --still, it wasn’t as if you owed him any explanations!

Not even ten minutes later, the bell of the store rang and you glanced between the spaces of the shelf, breathing your relief as soon as you saw the goat monster. Rearranging your hair a bit and pulling at your sweater to look more presentable, you came out from the row and managed a small wave. His brows drew up together at your state and he was upon you in a second, rubbing your arms and asking if you were feeling okay.

“I’m alright, I just feel a bit sick? I think I ate something bad,” you lied through your teeth, but he bought it and in what you believed was spontaneous reaction, he nuzzled your face affectionately. Instantly, both of your froze and he stared at you with panic rising in his eyes, while your face got hotter at the gesture.

He lurched away from you comically in the next second “I-I’m s-sorry --I d-didn’t... _oh my stars_ …” his voice was high in pitch as he sputtered apologies and turned away from you, moment in which you took advantage to clear your throat and think fast.

As soon as he turned back around to gauge your expression, you painted a smile on your face and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You know it’s okay to be affectionate with your date buddy right?”

Feeling encouraged, the monster awkwardly and tentatively took your hand from his shoulder and into his. “I-is this...o-okay?”

You nodded.

Did this make you a horrible person? “Can we go have lunch? If I eat something good and drink some tea, I might feel better,” you supplied, finding the touch of his paw very....nice and comforting.

The cashier watched you two oddly and then shook his head.

Thankfully, the place where you ate at was at the very end of the monster territory and you could enjoy a tasty meal without problems. Asriel even suggested buying a car maybe, to facilitate getting around easier so you wouldn’t have to walk around while you were feeling sick. That was endearing and all, but you politely told him he should do that only if he needed a vehicle for himself.

For the remaining of the date, you two drank tea and talked about anything and everything, but most especially, about him.

He avoided the family topic as if it were the devil himself and there was a certain darkness in his eyes when he was reminded of it. But then he would return to his usual rainbow-shitting self, smiling brightly and offering to bake something for you when you’d come by his place next.

Your mind kept drifting off to your other assignment, the one regarding the kills, so many of them. Strangely, it felt as if you stumbled onto something you weren’t supposed to and just that fact made you weary of who you leaked this information to. In fact, you planned a trip to the archives of the headquarters, open up the files and have a go with One, since you called him the moment you came upon the shit under the rug.

“Have a safe trip back home!”

Oh, you were already bidding goodbye. Huh, you managed to work on autopilot and space out with such success that it was mildly concerning. You nodded, got on your tip-toes despite the heels and kissed his cheek. AZ got flustered again and left as soon as the bus arrived, choosing to remain silent during the wait.

There was no feeling in your chest any more, no short breaths, no problems, all the way to the safe zone, where the headquarters were located, along with the area in which you lived.

At last, you could finally focus on what was really important.

And hmm, maybe Asriel getting a car wasn’t a bad idea, it would save you the trip to that place and the chances of seeing him again would be slim to none. Sighing, you took off your jacket and hung it up by the door, then kicked off your heels and strode inside your living room, where your laptop waited on the coffee table.

What a day.

Just as you were about to reach the couch, a sudden pang ran through your body,knees buckled and your breath hitched. You used the armrest to brace yourself before you fell on the floor, dread, panic...longing, all interlacing with feelings that were not your own.

“heya _sweetheart_.”

_Oh fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for your comments/feedback, kudos and bookmarks  
> leave me some more pls if u like it so far! <3


	4. the day i met you was the day i started dying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so....there is smut in this chapter, please keep that in mind and be warned  
> if you don't like smut, then the whole thing starts after : And that’s all he needed to know. < this line  
> cool? cool. okay, so this is my update, things are gonna get interesting from now on!
> 
> song to go with this: Two Feet - I Feel Like I'm Drowning

How would a normal person react to this?

When there were so many things to say and when your whole body was overwhelmed with emotions that seemed foreign, outlandish, when you couldn’t tell what was you and what was not, how would a normal person react?

You couldn’t turn around to face him, you remained frozen in place, knees on the grey carpeted floor. Head bowed and eyes widened, your hand squeezed the black leathered armrest tighter.

“ya ain’t very chatty, sweetheart, breakin’ my heart here,” he bitterly stated, making you flinch and close your eyes. “then again, _dead_ humans ain’t s’pposed to be chatty, yea?” he added, mockingly, his footsteps heavy as he walked deeper inside your apartment, taking in the scenery with a whistle.

How did he find you? How did he know how to find you? “nice place ya got here, ‘specially if i gotta compare it to the dump i live in...but i think ya knew that already. monst’as ain’t gettin’ much love, jus’ _LOVE_ , if ya get the gist,”

You could smell him, the cigarettes, winter, cold and something like chalk and old books.

It strangely made you want to breathe it in and seek comfort in it. His voice felt cozy, familiar and frightening at the same time, making you whimper softly as you waited, counting his steps. You didn’t want to see him, you didn’t want to be near him and at the same time you did. This alone confused you on so many levels that you already started breathing with some difficulty. Right now, you were in a realm between a panic attack and night terror. Facing your fears didn't seem like such a good idea now.

“won’t ya even look me in the eyes, sweetheart?” the way he said that last part made you shiver and realize that he wasn’t here to say hi to an old friend, no, he was here to do some really bad things to you. The feeling, the intent, it buzzed all around you like a swarm of bees, it made your shoulders slump and your body to cower in recognition and submission.

Fucking damn it, how could he have so much power over you?

To answer his question, you lowered your head and turned it to the side, teeth clenched. “aw, c’mon, doll, ya makin’ me feel unwan’ed,”

You needed him out of your apartment. Now. A knife too. The closest were your kitchen ones, the hunter outfit and weapons hidden in your walk-in closet in the bedroom. Chances of getting those were slim to none, but getting to the ones in the kitchen, that was a risk you were willing to take. Trying to determine his exact location, you opened your eyes slightly, just enough to catch sight of his sneakers from your periphery.

Once you locked onto him and realized he was by the coffee table and on your left, you started thinking of a plan.

Always making up plans, your fucking life story. Time to concentrate and flush out your fear. 

“well, if ya ain’t gonna--”

But before he could say anything more, you instantly kicked the table over and towards him as a distraction, got on your feet and leaped over the couch so fast you could barely believe it yourself. There was also that sense of satisfaction that you still had it in you, that you weren't completely frozen and numb, that your reflexes were working just fine. The crash behind you signaled that you probably had two seconds left before he caught on, just as you dashed through the kitchen door and slid feet-first behind your island, hidden away from the doorway.

Knives were up on the counter, neatly shoved into their wooden case. Searchingly, your gaze snapped up, but you couldn't spot them from down here.

Your heart raced as you tried to listen to any movement and as soon as you heard nothing, you lurched up towards the knives --only to find them floating in the air, engulfed in a red glow, pointed to your face. “ya lookin’ for these?” and Sans sitting casually on one of your stools, across from you.

In the last moment, you ducked, the knives swooshing over your head.

Bad plan, bad plan. Abort.

You didn’t even realize you were wheezing and on the verge of crying. Who could you even call to come? How could you scream for help? “why don’tcha come outta there, huh?”

Back pressed against the island still, you looked up, just to stare with widened eyes at the knives above your head ready to impale you. Without wanting to, you let out a whine and the blades came down, managing to rip through your sweater as you rolled aside.

You crawled half-way and then lunged for the kitchen door, in an attempt to get away.

Sans was faster, though. A knife pierced your thigh and you fell on the floor with a cry, hands trembling and chest heaving. “see? ya made me hurt’cha,” as he said this, again, you tried to crawl away on your elbows, use your other leg. The skeleton, however, had other plans. He stomped one foot on your ankle so hard you wailed and sobbed at the pain that sprung through your body.

“ya made me do this, sweetheart, why did ya hav’ta get flighty?”

“What do you want?!” you screamed, fists clenched and eyes burning with tears as you finally looked up at him just when he circled you and paused in his advances. When your eyes met his, there was a certain spark, a chill that ran down your spine. His red pin-pricks fixed on your brown contact and ice blue iris. By now, your wig was halfway off and one contact lost, something he took note of and crouched in front of you, reached out and yanked off the offending thing along with the cap underneath, allowing your long raven locks to fall freely.

“there she is. heya two, i got a bone to pick with ya,”

His other hand came up to your face, thumb coming too close to your eye and you growled as you fought back his grip. “keep ya eyes wiiide open, don’tcha trust me?” his tone was dark and with one harsh snatch by your hair that had your scalp burning, you were forced to look him in the eyes again “Stop it,” you sputtered weakly; and why did you feel so weak against him? Perhaps because this was a nightmare unfolding in reality.

With so much gentleness and care, he removed your other contact and flicked it away like garbage, turning a predatory grin back to your mortified expression. “ain’t that betta’ sweetheart?”

There was so much desire and hatred in his red eye lights that you felt dazed. Maybe...maybe you could try to get out of this a different way. Half-shut eyes lingered over his golden tooth and the red under his sockets while fingertips feathered over the knife stuck in your thigh. No problematic damage was done and the bleeding would be minimal.

But it would hurt like a bitch out of hell.

...

He almost lost himself when she looked him in the eyes after the short chase. Almost disarmed him completely when he heard her cry, but he reminded himself of why he was here and why he was doing this. Rage bubbled up back to the surface and he allowed it to encompass him fully, tearing off her stupid guise and baring her to his SOUL’s desire.

As pretty as the day she died.

He could remember vividly how the blood slithered down her chin and absentmindedly, he let his phalanges nudge under her chin so he could look at her better. How could he hate and love someone so much at the same time? Hatred was winning the argument, anger, fury, wrath, at how easily she deceived him. Was it ever mutual? This whore, this damned bitch, this fucking --

“how ya made a fool outta me…” his phalanges dug suddenly into her flesh and she hissed, eyes narrowing. The desire to rip her to shreds and paint her luxurious carpet in red made itself known, which prompted his SOUL to throb.

He was healing, he was slowly getting better, lived with the knowledge that she was gone forever and now? Now she was back in his mind, his life, nightmares and dreams, luring him back to her in the most maddening way. Her hand came up as she struggled to get on her knees, her fingers wrapping around his wrist and then slithering up his radius over the jacket’s sleeve almost sultrily, the other settled over his femur through the black sweatpants. He shivered and sweated, not fighting her one inch. His SOUL, it was basking in her attention and he succumbed like the deplorable dog he was.

_Thump. Thump._

Her eyes were on his when he glanced down at her touch, furtively, and then back, letting himself be dragged under those frozen pools of ice. Before he knew it, his hold mellowed and he was staring like an idiot at her, watching as she slowly rose up using him as leverage, until she was gently seated in his lap, her hips aligned with his.

And the knife that he struck her with, at his vertebrae. Sans was completely hypnotized by her wintery gaze, no matter how merciless it was. She hadn’t even flinched when she pulled the blade out, didn’t make a sound --deja vu all over again.

Her fingers were latched under his studded collar, keeping him in place while her blood was staining his pants, but he was remaining helpless and malleable under her will. He felt the tip of the knife pressing into his bone, ready to pierce. Her SOUL tamed him, dominated him with its intent and conquered once again. 

1 hp. Heh. It could end quick, what was he living for anyway? This fucked up reality they lived in?

“It’s not my fault you acted like one,” came her very late reply, plump lips twitching into a frown and raven locks sliding over the bare skin of her shoulder and exposed cleavage, sweater ripped by his earlier stunt. And it’s not like he couldn’t get away, he just didn’t want to, she turned him into an obedient dumbass and she knew it.

“touche,” he responded with a strained grin, allowing his phalanges to linger over her wound, gesture which she didn’t appreciate very much and instantly slammed him on his back, cranium making contact with the floor painfully. He grunted, but didn’t remove his hand. The huntress remained on top, straddling him, point of her knife aimed at his sternum this time and gaze flaring with so many emotions, in tandem with her SOUL.

She was as vulnerable as he was, he could see that, it was the fear that etched onto her brilliant red essence, the confusement, the panic, the longing.

How fucking pathetic he was. He came here to kill her and ended up giving into her the moment she made eye contact with him. She was really the death of him, was it so bad that an end sounded so much better than this torture? He couldn’t even stay away, he couldn’t mortally wound her and now as he pondered this, he realized that even if he beat her to an inch of her life, he would end up healing her and feeling like shit.

He wanted to scream and claw in his frustration, but he didn’t.

How could she have so much power over him? There was hesitance in her movements as much as there was hesitance present in his. One of her hands held him by the neck, the other grasping the handle of the weapon tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Her lip trembled and she frowned deeply, helplessly and irritated.

The knife was thrown to the side with a frustrated cry and she covered her face with both her hands, unable to end him. “looks like i ain’t the only fool in the room,” he spat out hoarsely and lifted himself up, not enough to move her, but enough to take her hands in his and kiss her palms and fingers as if she were the most precious being he had ever met in this miserable world. Did he come here to kill her or kill himself? He wasn’t sure, but as he pressed his teeth to her flesh, he knew he didn’t want to be anywhere else. What a masochistic cretin he was, perhaps Papyrus was right to call him that. 

Was this how a bond felt? The inability to kill the one you hated and loved the most? No matter how hard you tried and went against the tide?

Her eyes watched him defeated, brows drawn together pitifully and tears on her cheeks. “stop over-analyzin’ everythin’..” another kiss, this time over the pulse of her wrist “stop thinkin’...” and a kiss on her knuckles as he pulled her flush to him, nose cavity nuzzling into her lush ebony hair.

For how much he coached himself, how much he convinced himself he wanted to make her pay, he understood just how much he had needed her and wanted her, desperately and thoroughly.

Weakly, she tried to push against him. “No, stop it...I don’t...I don’t--don’t want this…”

“ya bein’ honest with ya’self?”

His phalanges curled through her rich locks and his kisses began again, trailing over her neck, to her collarbone, where he paused and his tongue slid out to taste her flesh. She sobbed and leaned her head back a bit, nails digging into his hoodie. “I…” she breathed out, “I don’t know…”

And that’s all _he_ needed to know.

He raised both hands and cupped her face between his metacarpals, gazing at her lovingly, before he kissed her hard, as if the past years hadn’t existed, as if they were the same as last time they saw each other, as if the world hadn’t changed and as if she hadn’t abandoned him. It didn’t matter now, not in this moment. His sharp teeth nipped at her lips and when she opened her mouth for him, his tongue completely subdued hers, brushing against each other, breathing each other and reducing her to a hot mess. With surprising vigor, she reciprocated, her warm fingers grasping at his collar and pulling him closer to her, until she couldn’t no more and they had to break apart just to breathe.

When he removed his left hand from her cheek, a dark stain of blood was left behind, the pattern dragging down with his phalanges to her ripped sweater. She didn’t seem bothered by that, however, her hand ran down his shirt and her hips rolled into him needily.

Stars, she was driving him over the edge of sanity.

He responded by grasping her side and bucking his hips up, forcing her groin to grind against his crotch. “Oh fuck..” at her cursing, his grin stretched wider and he repeated the motion, her hot core brushing against the bulge in his sweatpants tantalizingly.

“ya fuckin’ minx, i’m gonna fuck my name right outta ya…”

The craving he felt was so much, he had no care of how his phalanges slid over the ripped material of her pants, where he struck her, or how her breath hitched when the bone ran over the wound and latched onto the fabric, tearing it in his impatience to bare her. Ravenously, he bucked up again, the torn parts giving way to her damp panties. As if knowing what he wanted, she braced herself up on her knees and he slid the black lace aside, his forehead to her still covered chest.

Fuck, she was so wet and her heart, he could hear it beating so fast.

Her breathing was shallow and she reached down between them, pulling his waistband down just enough to get his erection out. Synced in the most incomprehensible way, he kept a hand on her waist, the other aligning to her slit and before they knew it, she lowered down on him and he was hilt-deep inside her, their mouths finding each other in breathless sighs and groans. Her SOUL, oh, her brilliant SOUL, it reunited with his in a second, her light blinding as it blazed and throbbed. 

Words stopped mattering in this moment, he didn’t know what she was saying and they held onto each other tightly while they fucked. It was filthy and clumsy, as if they were trying to learn each other again, but she squeezed him exquisitely and everything was forgotten. All that mattered was _her_ and he was lost in _her_.

Panting and drooling like a starved maniac, he rammed up into her just as she came down, settling a fast and hard pace, pouring all his longing and anger in every thrust. “ya so good, sweetheart…” his hand came up to wrap around her neck, thumb parting her lips as he watched her heavy-lidded. Her gaze was unfocused, sultry, downright dirty as she moaned and inhaled deeply, clutching onto his ribs, through his shirt. Amid this daze, he managed to pull up the ripped sweater and latch his mouth onto one of her breasts, sucking and letting his teeth graze the skin, if only to mark her in conquest.

His tongue then slathered between her mounds and up, phalanges digging into her hip with bruising strength at a particularly rough and deep thrust. “fuckin’....missed ya...so much…”

Instead of replying, she let her tongue roll over his thumb and her teeth to bite onto the bone of his finger. He took it out of her mouth in favor of tightening his grip on her windpipe, clenching his jaw and forcing her down on the floor, with him on his knees and her legs spread around his middle. He pounded into her with vigor, fervently and mercilessly, grunting and choking on his own moans at feeling her sopping wet pussy clinging onto his cock whenever he drove deeper. Her hands came to claw at the wrist that kept her pinned, half-heartedly, but there to try and shake off the growing hold he had on her throat.

Finding her clit with his free hand, he pressed over it and rubbed in a circling motion, managing to have her writhing underneath him in mere seconds and forcing her into an orgasm that made her forget completely about the lack of air she was getting --and more focused on how her muscles stuttered around his length. At the sudden grip, he moved faster, shoving his cock deeper, slamming into her erratically and chasing his own pleasure.

“F-fuck...Sa-Sa-ah...Sans!” she choked and inhaled sharply, thighs squeezing him. He reassured her by laying over her, free hand covering her mouth to shut her up and the other tightening around her throat. His eyes closed with a round of final thrusts, on the cusp of orgasm, until he finally felt the rush and he groaned, snapping his hips and spilling into her.

Sans lowered his head, nasal cavity into her hair as he breathed heavily, remaining like that even as the waves passed by, his grasp loosening on her neck. Taking advantage of this, she hungrily took in air, arms trapped under him as they laid there in a tangle of limbs and afterglow.

_Thump. Thump._

He couldn’t see the panic in her eyes, or the way she bit her lip to stop herself from crying, he was spent and exhausted, drifting off little by little in her warmth and familiar scent.

He really hoped this wasn’t just a dream, prayed and begged to whatever higher being there was that his mind didn’t make this up.

As for the consequences, he could deal with them later.

_Thump._

_ZZZzzz ZZz_

_zzzZZ._

“ _What the fuck did I do_?!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you enjoyed this, please leave kudos, comments and bookmark it!  
> i love talking to you all, so don't hesitate to give some feedback~ <3


	5. if i don't even care, is that such crime?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, bringing you an update!  
> updates will be coming in slower from now on, i need to focus a bit more on real life orz  
> also, thank you all for the support and awesome feedback, i love ya'll so much   
> without further ado, here's the new chapter!
> 
> song to go with this : Louis Futon - Restless Sea (feat. Opia)

Her scent, it was everywhere. It felt like a gentle caress, luring him back to sleep the moment he stirred awake.

A dumb grin stretched over his usually neutral features and he reached out to grab the source of his comfort and pull her to him --only to find nothing. His brow bones knitted in a frown and he cracked his eyes open, red eye lights coming to life as he took in the scenery.

He was still on the floor, curled up, under a blanket, with the rays of the sun warming the spot where she was supposed to be. There was a moment of silence during which he went over what happened, let his mind absorb the events of ...well, the previous day, seeing as he slept through to the next morning.

It had been real. His SOUL was calm for once and his magic like the tame waves of the ocean.

Slowly, he stretched underneath the cover she probably threw over him before she left and yawned. If she had been alive all this time, then why hadn’t he felt her earlier? It was odd how the shatter, as the break of a bond was called, didn’t feel like it was supposed to or how other monsters made it sound like. He just figured it was different from bond to bond, but now that he actually thought about it, he might have felt the hurt simply because she was not close enough and assumed _that_ was the shatter.

Clearly, the shatter hadn’t happened, it was the distance that caused him pain and didn’t allow him to feel her.

Their union was as brilliant as that night in Snowdin. She might have not understood what happened during their randezvous, she couldn’t see how her SOUL melded with his in that moment of passion and raw emotion. Humans didn’t know, he had to remind himself. Not as if he would tell her...unless she asked, but what were the chances of her even thinking about this?

He wouldn’t let her break the bond regardless. Maybe over his dead body, but then she’d die too. Human SOULs couldn’t take the shatter well, not like monsters could.

With a grunt, he sat up and looked around. She cleaned the apartment, probably while he slept; more so, he couldn’t feel her close. Right, she had a job. Raising up and dragging the blanket with him, Sans gracelessly fell face-first on the leather couch and pulled the cozy warm covering over his back in one swoop.

She even turned the coffee table back where it was.

However, that was not what caught his attention, what made his eye sockets narrow was the note on the wooden surface in pretty curled writing. Lazily, he reached out and grabbed the piece of paper, letting his red pin-pricks sweep over the message.

_When I get back, you better be gone. - Two_

As if. No way in hell was he going to leave, _oh no_ , instead, he’d show her how much he could be and how much he could do for her. She’d have to understand that he was the only one capable of giving her everything she wanted, right? Right.

Besides, there were a lot of questions he wanted to ask, like, where had she been all this time? Why didn’t she call or try to find him? Was the feeling mutual? Did she fuck anyone else during said period? There were things he _had_ to know.

The note was crumpled in his hand and thrown over the couch.

More sleep for now.

 

* * *

 

 

“Ava,”

The startlingly green eyes of One brought you out of the blank stare you were giving the shelf in front of you, a paper folder slack in your hold. It didn’t help that he slammed his hand on the side of it to get your attention in an unorthodox manner.

_Fuck._

Wide frozen blues turned to him. You hadn’t heard a thing he said. “Yeah?” you asked dumbly, fumbling with the files inside the purple binding.

“You are zoning out, what’s happening with you?” his voice had a tint of annoyance in it and as a result, his harsh gaze narrowed, as if he wanted to try and read you. Fat chance. Resuming your neutral expression, you shrugged and grabbed some more folders, beige and red, with the case numbers on them.

“Just thinking, it’s a big thing we’re uncovering here, you know how much it means if I’m right and these cases are actually --” he interrupts you with a sigh and a shake of his head, before he snatches the folders you stacked up and casually throws them on one of the wooden tables inside the Anti-Monster Archive.

“Let’s just go through these, it’s painful to watch you dodge my question,”

You are almost offended at how easy it was for him to see through you, but you press your lips together, sit down across from him and pull ten of the fifty binders to your side. “Let’s start with the oldest ones, then work our way through to the newest, we can see how this individual evolves with each case. If it’s our guy, we’ll know.”

“Thanks, Sherlock.”

“You can call me Two, only because you’re my friend,” you supply, not even looking at him but letting a small smile curl over your lips as you feel his emeralds on you.

Silence fell over once more between you two, something you took advantage of to actually focus on the task at hand and not the fuck-up from yesterday. Inevitably, your mind went there, while your eyes read the contents of a folder absentmindedly. You fucked Sans...again. A- _fucking_ -gain. And you were asking yourself why --why in the name of all that was holy in this world did you fuck him again and what exactly possessed you to cover him up nice and snug in a freaking blanket this morning before you left? The whole situation was fifty shades of what the fuck and you couldn’t explain to yourself why, even if you tried.

It felt...instinctual.

Regardless, you hoped, prayed to god, that he would be smart enough to leave. Emotionally, _and you couldn’t believe you were thinking this_ , but emotionally, you were a wreck. Never in your life did you imagine that you would admit this to yourself, it always seemed like such an outlandish matter, you being torn about some ...guy. Worriedly, you wondered if it was possible that this was what it felt to be in love --granted, your experience was as pale as cheap halloween white face paint compared to civilians that actually got to live through these kind of experiences. You never hated and felt attracted to someone the way you were with this particular monster. As if it didn’t even matter how many years passed, the flame just erupted and blazed strongly. Hell, you weren’t even that type of girl which made you wonder if these feelings were natural to begin with.

Enough of this nonsense.

Ice blues scanned over several post mortem pictures of the bodies found behind a restaurant, a few blocks away from Grillby’s casino. No SOUL, maimed, abandoned like trash. You closed this folder and opened the next one, having read enough.

These ones were found in an alleyway next to an office building. Same traits. Your eyes narrowed --wasn’t this building just at the line between the monster territory and the human one?

The next five folders contained the same information, traits, causes of death, close locations.

“I need a map,” you blurted out suddenly. One looked up at you with a raised eyebrow, but stood up to go fetch what you asked for without questioning it. He knew when to snap and when to shut it at least. Since you two met inside the Archive department, he’s been really aggressive and you couldn’t tell why, was he still mad from the fight yesterday? The last thing you needed was a hissy fit from your partner, who, as Three mentioned in passing when you returned, made sure to stay solo while you recovered and almost got his temporary partner killed when he was forced into a duo on a mission. He had a very territorial and conservative quality to his personality --one that you grew accustomed to, so perhaps he got used to you as well.

_Attachment_ _?_

Once again, you were snapped out of your thoughts when said male unrolled a map of the area in front of you. “Thanks,” you muttered quietly --he didn’t respond, but he did place a hand on the back of the chair and leaned over your shoulder to see what you were doing. Taking a pen from the belt of your hunter uniform, you pulled the cap off using your teeth and proceeded to scribble dots in every place you found matches to what you were seeking.

Sure enough, at the last dot, when you leaned back, the situation became clear as day.

“It’s...it’s a pattern…” you stared with widened eyes at the line of dots, starting from the oldest case to the newest. “He comes from Ebott...the line, it’s…” you traced a finger over the marked spots, perfectly aligned, from the outskirts of Ebott, trailing towards the very edge of monster territory in this city, traversing another city in the process. The line stopped right a block away from Grillby’s and then circled around that particular area.

“An Asgore loyalist?” questioned One, gazing at the map just as dumbfounded. “Or someone that waited for the king to fall and use the opportunity,” you supplied, frowning deeply. “It starts after Asgore was apprehended, when all the monsters were taken away....he wasn’t among them, didn’t you guys tag them all?”

“We did. It appears this one slipped through...but how?”

You looked up at the redhead with a grim expression. “We must do something. We have to re-trace his steps, dig deeper, see if he left anything at each scene, find out who exactly he is and--” “That won’t work,” One interrupted you “The council won’t give you permission unless you bring forth hard evidence,” he added, looking down at you with a tense frown.

“We have that videotape from the interrogation room,” you quickly pointed out, hopeful.

“The audio won’t do, it was behind the glass, they could have said anything,” One shot down this option as well, leaving you solutionless.

“But what evidence do they even want? If this is a boss monster, if this escalates…he’s already a serial killer...” you trailed off, turning to look at the map again.

“A witness, an audiotape, camera footage...that’s all I can think of,” the hunter replied, bowing his head and glancing away. Disdainfully, you came with terms that maybe Grillby didn’t have anything to do with this, but you were pretty sure he knew what was going on, so going over there and asking questions was a start.

As if you didn’t have enough to twist and turn about.

...

Drained and utterly done for the day, you finally dragged your feet towards your apartment, via bus. Sans had slipped your mind for the time being, the situation with the radical monster occupying your mind for the remainder of the day. When it became dark, you and One called it a night and parted ways, with your redheaded partner not even offering a goodbye.

Oh well, he would call you tomorrow for sure. If you knew him as well as you thought you did, then he was not going to give this a rest either. Puzzles excited his mind and challenged his intellect in ways that you couldn’t even understand.

It wasn’t until you shoved the key in the lock that you remembered, and that was because it smelled like cooked food all the way from the elevator and hallway, trailing back to your flat. Deadpanning, you turned the key and pushed the door open with a twist of the handle, coming face to face with...well, all the lights turned on throughout your apartment, the radio blarring the latest hit and smoke coming out of your kitchen.

Cautiously, you took a few steps inside, discarding your trench coat and scarf, then slowly pulling down the zipper of both uniform boots you had on.

“ah shit!”

The sudden shouted profanity made it clear. He didn’t leave.

Swallowing the knot that formed in your throat, you gently placed the footwear down and padded into the living room, casting a wary glance at the blanket on your couch and the various pillows that he brought from your bedroom to make himself comfy. The TV was stuck on a comedy and there was an ashtray on your balcony, visible from the transparent sliding doors of the living room.

A loud bang rang through, accompanied with some nasty cussing and clanking of pots and pans.

Was this really your life? You knew you shouldn’t have covered him with the blanket. Maybe he took the gesture as acceptance. Walking deeper into your apartment, to the opposite side of the kitchen, you found your bedroom door open --and the wardrobe drawers, nightstand drawers and chest drawers, all pulled out. There were panties on the floor by his red sneakers and your collection of knives mingled with, strewn about on the bed, along with his jacket.

The most worrisome aspect of this whole debacle was that some of the knives were missing.

As if on cue, the skeleton came out from the kitchen, catching you in the hallway at your bedroom door. He was dressed in a simple red shirt, stained with oil, flour and mustard, yellow socks that looked a bit too big for his feet and black sweatpants, a hand print of flour on the side. When he saw you, he paused, flowery mittens on his hands and a large plate between them.

Okay, what...was he doing?

You two stared at each other dumbly for a few seconds. “heya sweetheart,” his eye lights turned into small hearts and you felt yourself flush at his affectionate tone, as if he hadn’t tried to kill you the night prior.

Why were you looking away from all the shit he tried to do?

And why did you continue to brush off just how unnatural this all was?

For fuck’s sake, if your father found out, you would be dead. No blood of his blood would humiliate him in such a way and --damn it you felt ashamed for having these emotions for a monster.

Cringing, you looked away, towards your bedroom. “I see you’ve been busy,” you commented icily.

His red pin-pricks returned to their normal shape and his brow bones came down in a light frown, grin downwards. “yea. wan’ed to say the same thing ‘bout ya,” he nodded over to your hunter uniform.

Right. “so where ya been, doll?” he asked casually, walking through the archway to the living room so naturally you would say he was regular already. Scrunching up your face, you followed after him, annoyed. “Didn’t you read the note I left you?”

“i did,” he shrugged, placing the plate of food on the coffee table. It resembled a quiche.

“And why are you still here?”

“chose to ignore it,” at that, he pulled the mittens off and hurled them over his head. They landed on the floor close to the archway.

“How convenient.” you hissed under your breath “Sans, this is not gonna work, me and you...we’re not whatever you imagine we are. We can’t be something. This is...this is the surface, it’s different now, the society, the rehabilitation of your kind, I’m a hunter, I can’t --”

“can’t o’ won’t?”

“I don’t want to be with you!” so then why did your heart skip a beat when he turned to look at you, as if what you said physically hurt him. He stiffened visibly and his brows were drawn together in pain. You watched him with widened eyes.

“so last night was what, huh? ya wan’ed to spontaneously screw an’ then dump my ass? sweetheart, ya done fucked up twice now, ‘sup with that?”

“I…” you stammered, shifting your gaze elsewhere, tone no longer strong. “I don’t know?”

He sat down on your couch, his back turned to you. “ya think i dunno how ya used me?”

You flinched at his suddenly flat tone. “think ya sly an’ i didn’t figure out ya weren’t gonna come for me? made a fool outta me...waited for ya months...years,” he chuckled darkly, poking the food on the plate with a fork.

“an’ when i finally gave up on ya, got comfy with the knowledge that ya were dead...boom, ya show up on TV outta nowhere and ya fuck me up all ova’ again when i come to teach ya a lesson,”

God, your chest was hurting and you couldn’t tell if it was even you feeling this, it was as if your emotions were connected to his. You didn’t know he’d feel so strongly though, or waited for you for so long. It was a fling, any infatuation he had with you, well, you figured it should have just died. You really did make a fool out of him, didn’t you? Why did it hurt so much to know this?

“so now ya gonna throw me out like i’m garbage, huh? how the fuck dare ya?”

“Sans--”

“shuddup.” He turned his head so you could see just the side of his face, eye-light dimmed out. “why aren’t ya humans honest with how ya feel?”

_Because you didn’t want to feel._

That did it. You closed your eyes tight, clenched your fists and let it out. “It’s not that I didn’t! I couldn’t! I literally couldn’t, you fucking asshole! Asgore, he--” you breathed out and strode up to the couch, with your ice blues open and blazing in fury, trying to hold back the onslaught of emotions that took over unexpectedly. Fearfully, you realized this wasn’t like you at all and you let yourself be affected by that experience again. “I couldn’t walk, what Asgore did to me…” again, you inhaled deeply and exhaled, trying to grasp the reigns of your feelings.

Suddenly, you felt the cold bone of his phalanges over your fist and as if by magic, you let go of the false bravado you were trying to show off to the world. It was crazy how just his touch melted all your walls down in an instant. He reached up further to encompass your hand in his and slowly, he unlatched your fingers, showing crescent marks into your palms. “c’mon,”

Defeated, you sat down next to him, as if you knew what he wanted. “...I don’t even know where to begin,” you started, shoulders slumped, posture pathetic and small.

His other hand came around your back and cupped the side of your head gently, bringing your forehead under his mandible in comfort. “s’okay...jus’ tell me what’s on ya mind…”

Shamefully, you realized you missed his scent and presence.

“I was so scared when I woke up...Sans, I couldn’t feel my legs,” your eyes watered and you leaned harder into him “I was paralyzed from my waist down, he did that to me, I’ve never felt so goddamn helpless and hopeless. The nightmares, they were the worst...trying and failing to move my feet, that killed me slowly --I just wanted to die,” you confessed, feeling half a weight being lifted off your shoulders.

His grip grew tighter. You had to stop. _Now_. You refused to cry. 

“I was stuck to that fucking bed, forgotten by my own father...just abandoned there in hopes that I would come to terms with my condition --I had to beg, plead, scream to get --” you gritted your teeth and shook off his touch, trying to put distance between you and him again.

“No, this is wrong...I can’t,”

“an’ why the fuck not?” his tone got aggressive again really fast and when you refused to look at him, he grabbed your collar all of a sudden and yanked you hard enough to make you face him. “ya ain’t gonna play these games with me no more, sweetheart, fuckin’ answer me,”

“Because…” your heart skipped a beat and your gaze softened, unable to pull away from his grip “It’s...It’s inappropriate...you’re a monster, it’s wrong,”

“there ain’t no more war to make it inappropriate,”

His hold slackened and you pulled back, choosing to stick to the armrest of your couch. “You don’t understand! It’s just wrong!” and by God, you were getting frustrated because you didn’t have answers either. “why the fuck ‘s it wrong?” he snapped just as frustrated by your lack of response.

“You literally came here to fucking kill me, Sans, or at least beat me half to death and then we just...fuck like nothing happened...I feel --I don’t understand what I’m feeling, this isn’t okay, this isn’t right! You can’t just come here, wound me, fuck me and then expect things to be just fine when the world is --” you took a deep breath, getting really worked up from having to explain all of this “The world is still not okay, the war might be over but there is so much fucked up shit going on, so many dead people and this is the least of my concerns right now! I need to focus on my task, I worked so fucking hard to be Two again, I had to start from the god damn bottom and I can’t afford to screw up!” you stood up from the couch, wild eyes looking everywhere but at the skeleton that was silent in his seat.

“You just don’t understand!”

“then make me understand, ya crazy woman!” when he shouted that at you, baring his razor sharp teeth, you finally looked at him, noticing for the first time how sweaty and gross he looked.

_And for some twisted reason, you still found him attractive._

What was _wrong_ with you?

“Fine, if you’re not gonna leave, then don’t! I don’t care!” you screamed at him, feeling drowned by so much, too much.

He stared at you slack-jawed, one brow bone raised at your childish reaction. Well, you didn't give a flying fuck.

“I’m going to sleep!”

“wha’--”

“Fuck off!” and with that, you stormed out of your living room and into your bedroom, leaving behind a dumbfounded skeleton. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos, comment and bookmark if you enjoyed this~  
> ya'll know i love your feedback!


	6. the battle's lost yet i feel like i've won

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...uhhhh  
>  sorry for the very very very late update orz don't throw eggs at me pls  
> so, real life got hella busy, i had to take a step back and focus on that  
> but here i am, again, offering you a nice little chapter~
> 
> song to go with this : IN THE SHADOWS by AMY STROUP

_“Again,”_

_“But dad...I’m tired!”_

_“Did I stutter, Ava?”_

_Big blue eyes stared up with tear streaked cheeks at the image of your father, in his younger years, his identical gaze looking down at you with coldness and calculation that you grew to hate. He had ordered you to cut your hair yesterday as it was getting in the way of your training and when you refused to, he did it himself, grabbed a fistful of your dark ringlets and chopped it right off with one of the hunter knives he had at hand from that day’s training session._

_You loved your hair, you grew it in long loose curls to your mid-back and now it felt cold without it, you felt incomplete. Absentmindedly, your cut-up hand rubbed at the bare back of your neck._

_You threw a temper tantrum like nothing before, punishment was quickly served._

_Today, he trained you like never before, until your hands were bleeding from the many cuts you had gained as a result of your failed attempts at a move he was making you repeat for what felt like the hundredth time. The sun was starting to set, marking the horizont in a deep dark red._

_“In battle, when the barrier falls and those abominations try to take over, you won’t have any time to whine, they won’t stop so you can draw breath, they won’t have mercy and you will likely end up dead in the first seconds you face one of them,” he continues, acidly trying to drive his point home by his unfaltering narrowed gaze. He didn’t even bother to show you the move when you began at dawn, he simply directed you and expected you to know what he wanted. Regardless of his useless ways of teaching, this was one of the very few opportunities you had to spend time with him, so you took in in stride, hungry for his attention, determined to make him see you._

_Maybe then he would spend more time with you willingly and not treat it as duty._

_It wasn’t as if you disliked your mentors or tutors or nanny...or the maids and butlers working in this enormous manor you called a home, but you missed him. A lot. Since your mother left, he was the only family you had remaining._

_If she were here, she would probably try to soften him, her calm voice and gentle demeanor a complete antithesis to how your father was. ‘Ezekiel, she is only a child’ --she would probably chide him half-heartedly, smiling fondly at him. They loved each other, you knew that, it was hard not to see it when they gazed at each other, but she still left, your father said so when you woke up one morning and your mother was nowhere to be found. At first, you believed it was just a test or a game, to try and hone your tracking skills --he sometimes did that -- but when months passed with you constantly looking for her, you understood that she really was gone. She left you. It was that simple. For a long time, you wondered if it was your fault and the only escape you ran to was training hard and staying determined._

_Today, however, he had pushed you beyond your limit and everything hurt more than it should have, to the point that you felt lightheaded._

_His jet black hair was slicked back and his fancy suit had not even a wrinkle to it, the crisp white of his shirt harshly in contrast with the dark burgundy of the tie and dark grey of the two piece. Clearing his throat, he raised his arms and pulled at the cufflings, rearranging his collar and tugging at the tie in an effort to look as immaculate as always, after all, his friends were coming over to discuss their politics in his office over a glass of cognac._

_Never were you able to understand them._

_Of all the subjects you were learning, politics was the most boring of them all._

_“You want to make me proud, don’t you, Ava?” he began after a long pause, in which you turned your eyes away in immediate submission._

_“Yes, dad,” --you inwardly chuckled at how obedient you had always been. It was incredible how easily he could tame you down and snuff out your flame before it even flickered in the wrong direction, compared to how hard a time you had always shown everyone else in your life._

_Before you could say anything else or do anything else, there was a yellow petal floating down from the heavens, followed by another and another, each capturing you in what felt like slow motion. After what seemed like an eternity, your icy gaze flicked upwards at the reddening sky. “What…?” when you returned your attention to where your father had stood, there was a pile of dust and blood splatters on a field of buttercups. The golden petals continued to snow upon you as your eyes widened. No longer a child, but yourself again, you turned this way and that, heart slamming inside your chest._

_Then there was movement behind you._

_“Good, because if you don’t…” your father’s voice whispered by your ear, a gentle breeze all the warning you had._

_You gasped._

_A trident, a very familiar one, protruded from your abdomen, blood staining your shirt as your wide blues stared down at the horrifying sight. “You know better than that, don’t you Ava?”_

_Suddenly you were drowning, screaming and kicking, unable to hear your voice, but knowing you were crying out by how your throat hurt and scratched your vocal chords. Limbs like lead, you watched helplessly how you sank deeper and deeper into an abyss of darkness, thick like molasses. Eyes closed, you begged for it to stop._

_“sweetheart?”_

_The voice, comforting and safe. You clung to it like a security blanket and your feet finally touched ground._

_When you opened your eyes, you were standing upon that same bed of golden flowers, only this time, you didn’t feel fear._

_There was no throne room and no trident, no wounds, just you and…_

_Him._

_Sans, staring at you with a neutral expression on his skeletal face. “sweetheart?” his mouth wasn’t moving, but you could hear him. What was the meaning of this? He just made everything bad go away, your nightmares, your fears, your…._

With a jolt, you sat up, breathing in and out fast, inhaling and gulping down air as if you had been deprived of it. In the darkness of your room, two red pin-pricks watched you with concern. How did you know it was concern? You didn’t know, but you could feel it. Phalanges brushed over your tear-streaked cheek and you didn’t even realize you had been crying until you felt the pang of anxiety and pain in your chest.

“ya don’t look like ya got it together,” he commented, sitting on the empty side of your bed with legs crossed.

Fuck, you were trembling. His hands cupped your face gently and his jagged teeth pressed to your plushy lips, red from the crying and struggle. As if doubtful of how real this was, you leaned into him, closer, clutching on his arm’s bones through his dirty smelling shirt.

“W-why are you --” your voice as weak, exhausted and hoarse, you had to pause so you could swallow the knot in your throat, but he shushed you with his thumb on your bottom lip once you parted from the pseudo-kiss. “ya called me,”

With a push, he had you on your back. “What--” but he didn’t let you finish your question, he made his way under your blankets and effortlessly flipped you on your side, settling comfortably against your back and spooning you. He breathed you in at the back of your neck, nuzzling his nasal cavity through your hair.

Drained as you were, you ceased all your fighting, submitting to him just this once.

Needless to say, as you drifted off again, there were no more nightmares plaguing your mind, not when he held you tight and you could feel his magic pulsing through you in a series of thumps that closely resembled a heartbeat.

...

In the morning, however, when you woke up tightly curled into his side, one leg over both of his, tangled into the blanket together, you couldn’t help but stare horrified at your choices unfolding, in the shape of a skeleton snuggled up in your pillows and covers.

Clearly, this was getting ridiculously out of hand.

The worst part was, you weren’t as bothered by it as you should be. That alone was terrifying.

Turning back to your vanity’s mirror, you continued to brush your hair into place and get ready for the day. Sans shifted and groaned behind you, stirring up only to start snoring himself back to sleep.

Ugh.

When you got to the kitchen, something you avoided the night before, you found your knives dirty with crumbles and what appeared like left-over quiche in a burnt pot.

Those were your monster hunting weapons.

And he used them to cut up his food. And then he wiped off the counter with a sock. His sock, you assumed by the yellow color.

Glancing back towards the living room, with a cringe, you were starting to question what was it with him and socks, because there were a few pairs on the couch and on the floor as well. Some were yours and some...you didn’t even want to know.

“Fuck me…” whining defeated by the assaulting sights in your apartment, you dragged yourself towards the kettle on the counter to start making your coffee. There was no way you were going to clean his shit, as much as it physically hurt you to see all this mess. God knows what hides in those socks --honestly, you were better off leaving them where they were.

Patiently, you waited until your coffee was ready, before you sat calmly on one of your kitchen stools by the island and sipped from a clean mug you miraculously found in one of the cupboards.

Today you were going to visit Grillby’s little abode, fully equipped and ready to -- _ring ring_. Grunting, you leaned forward and reached over to your jeans’ back pocket for your phone.

A text from One?

_'I decided to investigate undercover. Stand by, I will contact you with the extracted information.'_

Did he just bench you? A burning fire spread through your gut and made you flush with rage at how he treated you. Jaw clenching, you almost slammed the phone on the marble of the surface.

He was supposed to be your partner! He just ditched you so he could go alone. What a salty bastard! You were about to shoot him a very colorful message back, when you noticed how your hands trembled.

Okay, time to back it up. You squeezed your eyes shut and placed the device on the counter, face down.

 ...

A half an hour later, you were making eggs and bacon. Truthfully, you were so accustomed to canned food that cooked food tasted a bit bland, if not unappealing. Cooking, on the other hand, was a soothing activity you began to enjoy once you learned the abc’s.

Hardly something you were good at, given you only did it since you began walking again, at that stupid facility, but you managed well enough to have others compliment your ‘winging-it’ manner of doing said activity.

Nevertheless, as you placed the bacon on some plate you ended up washing, the smell itself must have summoned the unholy from his deep slumber, because once you turned around, you came face to face with Sans, sitting casually at the island and watching you with his jaw propped on a hand, a lazy grin stretching out in your direction.

The worst part, again, was that you couldn’t disobey orders from a superior, rules that had been drilled into your head since you could talk.

Your face fell into a deadpan expression.

Standing by it was then. “mornin’ sweetheart,”

The devil started calling you by that pet name again, must mean he didn’t look to murder you anymore. Quite honestly, you were still very weary of his presence, like an unstable lunatic that could snap at any moment, or a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Frankly, trust was not part of this relationship’s foundation. “Good morning,” you muttered back, taking your plate of food and mug and exiting the kitchen, hoping that the fact there was no plate for him or cup of coffee would be hint enough that you didn’t want him here.

The grin fell from his face and his eye sockets narrowed after your blatant rejection.

But then it returned and he followed you into the living room, watching you lay back on your couch with your phone in hand after you placed the food and coffee on the table.

“so we’re not gonna talk ‘bout it, huh?”   
He took your silence as an opening and sat down on one of your armchairs, across from you, kicking his boney feet up on the coffee table next to your plate.

Yep, he did use his own sock to wipe off the counter.

Internally, you screeched.

Externally, you raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “y’know...i used ta have them nightmares too...every fuckin’ night, s’why i always slept throughout the day,” he started. This little piece of information had you lower your phone just a bit, gaze lingering over his face, that strangely enough, contorted into the expression of a man haunted. You knew that look, the flicker of his pupils, the faraway look, as if he was remembering it all in detail, because you’ve seen it before, even in your father, especially in your mother...and lately, at yourself in the mirror.

“nasty lil’ buggers. never spoke ‘bout it, didn’t wanna be weak ‘cause that’s not somethin’ us monsters do, speakin’ ‘bout our feelings i mean,” at that, he turned his red pinpricks back to you, grin strained, expression controlled in a neutral arrangement.

“Because you would be painting a target on your back,”

“yea…”

He slid his feet from the table and on the floor, leaning forwards with his elbows on his kneecaps. How many days had it been since he last changed his clothes? That question remained in the back of your mind, because his face turned dead serious in the span of seconds. “but ya ain’t a monster. so why don’t ya wanna talk ‘bout what happened on that fuckin’ day? ‘cause all i know for sure s’that ya were taken away, bleedin’ and dyin’,”

He gestured with his hand at you. “an’ apparently ya ain’t dead. wasted four years of my life thinkin’ that ya were, think i deserve an explanation. don’t help that ya were callin’ for me last night, so whatever the fuck happened, it fucked ya up pretty good, nightmares an’ the whole package,”

Of course. You almost forgot how smart and observing Sans really was. You could say that was one of his redeeming and...dare you say, attractive qualities.

Shifting uncomfortably and glancing away, as if you were checking to see if someone was listening, by virtue of your blooming paranoia, you were mentally debating if you should give him that much. It wasn’t as if you had anything better to do at 10 AM. And it wasn’t as if he would leave, he was in that hell with you, side by side, you had to remind yourself. Swallowing your pride, you furrowed your brows and spitefully flicked your gaze over his patient shape. Those red pupils were still trained on you, or rather, into you, through you.

“Fine, I guess it’s fine if I tell you...it’s not exactly confidential,” you offered, weary of him still. At this, he leaned back in the armchair and crossed one ankle over his knee, both hands coming to rest on the armrests.

Taking that as a ‘go on’, you settled your phone on the coffee table and turned so you were facing him on your side, legs curling up on the couch. “I was dying. I know that much. Me and…” you closed your eyes for a sharp intake. You couldn’t even say his name. “...the king, we went against each other. Needless to say, he won, gave me the beating of my life, humiliated me and left me bleeding to death with his fucking pitchfork in my stomach. I blacked out after that, I remember bits and pieces, like…” you struggled a bit with this, narrowing your eyes and setting your jaw “...like how the sunrise looked, how I used his own weapon to take him down, how the other hunters arrived... _you_...I know I saw you…”

You cleared your throat, feeling it constricting. “...and then nothing, nothing at all. I was taken to one of our facilities, isolated, more of a research base than a clinic, far away from here. Spent the first week or so in a coma and when I woke up, I found out I…” the sting in your throat was back, the memories resurfacing “...I couldn’t walk anymore. Paralyzed from my waist down, the king’s hit did a number on my spinal nerves, screwed me over for good. You don’t know the desperation I felt….I...I almost lost my mind I think,”

His expression changed, brow bones knitting together and eye lights dimming. “Don’t give me that look!” you were quick to snap at him. “wha’ --”

“Pity! Like you pity me!”

“i didn’t--” “Just shut up and let me finish,” you roared at him again, before he could come up with some dumb excuse of why he was giving you that look.

He clenched his teeth, jaw jutted and eye sockets narrowed dangerously at how bossy you were being with him, but gestured for you to continue. “Right. So...my only chance were the surgeries, many of which failed spectacularly and left me with scars. I gambled with my life there, any of those could have killed me, you know? There’s this thrill, this….exhilaration that courses through your body when you know you can die, when your life is on the line. That’s what made my recovery that much sweeter. The last try took every drop of energy I had left, but...a week later, I moved my toes,”

At that, you smiled, looking away, at the ashtray on the balcony rail. “It was a slow process, but I learned to walk again, I would spend my days and nights trying to make that one step. Finally, hope, I thought, I never felt it so strong before, I always took it for granted. You don’t realize how important something is to you until you lose it, as they say. Every progress hurt more than the last, but here I am,” you chuckled bitterly “Of course, my dearest father, he benched me, took me out of the game, he thought I wouldn’t be good to go again, not with my broken body. I understood his reasons, but I felt so...betrayed then. I had to work my way through the rank numbers again, until I was Two again. Took me a whole damn year, if not more….I stopped counting the time,”

Your frozen pools of ice returned and fixed the skeleton with cold content. “And I’d love to keep my rank. Being a hunter, it’s everything to me, if I lose this again, I lose everything, I can’t gamble with that, not for you, not for anyone, not for a --” you paused, realizing what you were about to say.

“... _monsta’_ , yea? ain’t that what ya were gonna say?”

You avoided his pin-pricks, boiling with patient rage, if not for his twitching fingers, clenching fist and bouncing leg. His sudden laugh, mocking and bitter, made you flinch. “ya think ya know everythin’, when ya don’t even know yaself. don’ hate me for this, doll, but yer daddy sounds like an asshole,” his words were venom and you hissed as you met his blazing crimsons with your chilling blues.

How dare he speak like that of your father? Before you could give him a good verbal lashing, he interrupted you by raising his hand and making a pulling motion, freezing you into place, as your SOUL came out, painted blue. “ya gonna shuddup an’ listen, howzaboutit?”

You couldn’t even speak, like he was ordering your motor functions around and you had no choice but do as he said. “‘cause i’m gettin’ real tired of ya fuckin’ games, dollface,” to underline his intentions, his phalanges curled and as a result, you inhaled sharply at the string of pain that ran down your spine.

Fuck. Since when could he do this? Right, the first time you fought him, he did something like this, threw you around like a rag doll. Eyes widened, you watched in both fascination and fear at how easily he made you comply. Sweat started forming over his skull and your skin prickled with the buzz of his magic. “ya don’ even know how close i was to killin’ ya like a dog, do ya? don’ even know how much i care for ya, no matter how much offa bitch ya are. i don’ care if we’re different, so what if you’re human and i ain’t? we ain’t fightin’ a war no more, we ain’t enemies, we’re in this together. ya keep throwin’ around how it was a fling, but ya SOUL ain't agreein’ with ya mouth, birdie.”

He shook his head, a strained grin on his face, dropping his eyes to the coffee table and releasing your SOUL. The small heart took back its red color and vanished into your chest, making you whole again as you panted, bringing your hands over your chest where it went.

“listen, if ya want me gone for good, then say so. don’ pretend like ya didn’t find comfort in knowin’ that i was out there, even if ya convinced yaself ya didn’t wanna see me, that it was jus’ that,” he stood up and you pushed your back into the back of the couch, frightened but alert and open, as if you were seeing him for the first time ever.

“jus’ say the words an’ i’ll be gone forever,”

He stuffed his hands into his sweatpants’ pockets, waiting, staring you down with no expression on his usually expressive face.

And the worst part was that you couldn’t bring yourself to say it.

Guiltily, you glared away. He, however, stepped around the table, until his knees bumped into yours, making you snap your eyes back up at him, questioningly. His hand then came around your jaw, phalanges digging into your skin and yanked your face up, before he leaned down to press his teeth over your lips in the most arousing show of dominance that you ever had witnessed from a male. You didn’t know what exactly made you feel this way, but it was possessive and your body was responding instinctually through tingles in your stomach and heat over your cheeks.

Eyes fluttered shut, even when he pulled away slightly to just look at you. “see? i know ya better than ya know yaself. stop buildin’ walls an’ overanalyzin’ everythin’...” he muttered in a low tone “‘cause ya won’t like me when i’ll say game over,”

Was that a threat? Still in a haze, your lips parted and face flushed, your gaze met his and a chill ran down your spine, his hand forcefully holding your chin yet.

The moment was promptly ruined by the ringing noise of your phone.

He glared at the device heatedly and you took the opportunity to break from his spell for good, pulling away and grabbing your phone to check who it was. AZ, the goat monster.

_Shit._

“who that?”

“Nobody important. I have to take this, though.” You responded quickly and stood to leave. Almost forgot about your side mission. That wasn’t very professional of you, was it? Cursing at your own forgetfulness and letting other problems triumph over this appointment, you made sure to lock the bathroom door as you sat down on the bath tub’s edge and took your call.

 

* * *

 

 

One watched the cowering monster with sadistic satisfaction. Seeing them scared out of their minds at the sight of his axe, it always felt...exhilarating. This wasn’t the first time he went solo, especially since his partner went out of commission. Many were coupled with him in missions along the four years that passed since the fall of the barrier, but they learned fast he was not a team player, at least, not with them.

_They weren’t worthy._

Not like she was. Three was too unstable. Four was straight-up annoying with her regulations and arrows, Five was just a pain in the ass with his anger management issues and Six? Six was a loose cannon that loved to snort monster dust and get high, a new drug, an opportunity to make profit, she had told him. He just found it degrading and disgusting.

Sad how they were all descendents of the great seven wizards.

Only Two raised to her name.

Which is why he was able to tolerate her and look after her, despite it going against his nature.

Funny how a volunteering street rat managed to be their leader. “Please, please, let me go, I have children!”

“No, you don’t,” the redhead responded swiftly, calmly, walking closer to his target and making it flinch in fear. Behind his mask, the male smirked, delighted, riled up by the show. “I hate liars, abomination. Don’t make me cut off your limbs, it won’t take much from your HP. Just enough to leave you close to the sweet bliss of death, but not close enough to embrace it,” as he spoke, he swung the axe playfully, circling it like a predator.

Nobody would know he was here, the abandoned warehouse in the slums offering the perfect covering. Here, he had no regulations to respect, no limits or boundaries to respect.

Nobody would know what he did for the information he sought out.

Grillby gave up the name of this particular monster, said he knew of the operation, the group, the monster behind the radical group and how they worked. In exchange, he let the fire elemental keep his casino. Two was right, she uncovered something that had been hidden in details, that many overlooked, and a puzzle, an enigma, a mystery, it always excited him mentally.

He had tossed and turned all night, restlessly trying to think of how this fiend escaped their tagging, their rigorous processing of the monsters from Ebott. How smart was it to be able to fool them? Him, especially.

“I’m s-sorry! Please don’t dust me! I’ll tell you everything you wanna know!”

“Who is the monster behind the recent killings? Humans, left with no SOUL, I believe it’s a group. Another monster spoke of a him,”

“I-I d-don’t k-know who you’re--” but before the monster could finish that sentence, the axe that One had been holding, slashed through the air and perforated the wall behind, an inch away from its head.

“I said, don’t lie to me,” he repeated calmly, closing the space as the foul creature cowered into the wall on its back, sweating and whimpering. “ _Who is_ the monster behind the recent killings?”

The hunter crouched a foot away from the monster, mask tilted to the side.

“H-he...c-comes from the void! He…” the thing stuttered, on the verge of crying “He returned! The scientist...he hates what he sees, he recruits and --” another whine and whimper.

“Please, hunter, I can’t, I c-can’t do this...please…”

A fist connected with its face, making it sputter and fall on its side to the ground with the force behind the punch. It screamed in surprise, turning to look at the hunter with wild eyes and desperation, fear.

“Beware of the one who speaks in hands! Heed my words, you will all die!” as it wailed that out, his hands grasped the axe’s handle, yanking it free, before impaling the blade into his own neck and turning to dust, under the shocked gaze of One. The redhead had reached out as fast as he could to stop it, but all he grabbed at was dust.

 _Again._ These monsters were suicidal, they would rather die than give off more information on the one responsible for this. Just who was this character and why were all so afraid of him? What was the void and what did it mean by scientist, returning and speaking in hands? Perhaps sign language?

His fists clenched and unclenched in anger.

... 

Later, he was in his civilian attire, drinking scotch at Grillby’s casino. Lately, nothing seemed to work well enough for his taste. Two included, this fucking case.

 _Language_. He chided himself.

He hated vulgar manners of speaking. It was unflattering, especially on her, with her pretty eyes and wine red lips. Especially with that beautiful mind of hers, able to hold her own against someone of his intellect, able to hold her own against him in battle, his equal in every way.

Must be the alcohol talking. Monsters had stronger beverages.

Bringing his phone out of his flannel shirt’s pocket, his green eyes shifted over the contact list. Maybe he shouldn’t call her.

But he did anyway. Busy line.

Figures.

Another sip. He’d have to untangle this one on his own, he was concerned that this case might be the end of her. Since she came back, there was a fragility to her that he hadn’t noticed before and everything started looking threatening in his eyes. Everything. Down to her own weapons of choice. He’s seen how she flinches, he’s seen the scars of her survival under that forsaken barrier, he’s seen the seams coming apart and how sleepless her eyes sometimes looked.

He’s seen it all.

She wasn’t fit to serve anymore. Not mentally fit anyway. She’d been through battle before, but never like then --seeing her in that state, seeing her being resuscitated, it...it did something to him.

“Nah, I can’t stay any longer Grillbz, I’m going to that meeting tonight, gotta be ready,”

Meeting? Unintentionally, he started eavesdropping, sipping from his glass casually and letting his thoughts be silenced. The fire elemental crackled something, to which the other responded with a scoff.

“He’s gonna change everything, you’ll see. You knew him when he was a royal scientist, yeah?”

At that, One tightened his hold on the glass. Royal scientist? Could it be the same scientist the monster from early in the morning had spoken about? If this was correct, there was a meeting tonight that he’d have to see for himself. The monster left shortly after and the redhead settled his empty glass down on the counter with a clank.

Grillby glanced over at him. “....anything else?...”

“No, I’m good,”

But if Grillby had lied to him that he didn’t know the monster behind all of this, the elemental wouldn’t be as _good_. It remained to be seen.

One left the casino a second later, tracing the steps of the chatty monster, intent on finding the missing pieces of this puzzle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave kudos, comment and bookmark if you enjoyed!  
> ya'll know i love the feedback, it gives me life~


	7. something in the shadows cuts you like an arrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey hey~  
> soooo, i'll be trying to upload every week now!  
> sunday or monday, depends if the chapter is longer or not.  
> here's another update, from yours truly! enjoy~ 
> 
> song to go with this : Sweet Revenge by Milck

“did’ja fuckin’ revive asriel?”

Sans wasn’t angry. No, he was livid, his magic was all over the place, wild and heavy on the reptilian monster that cowered in fear by the window of her kitchen. Undyne wasn’t home either, the ex-scientist noted through foggy glasses, mind calculating her chances against the skeleton in the doorway. 10% if she was lucky. Luck was never in her favor. 

“I-I d-don’t know wh-what you’re talking about,” she slid a claw over the sweaty scales of her forehead, eyes unfocused behind the binoculars.

He had the most enlightening conversation with Two after she finished her call on which he eavesdropped, questioning her about this AZ that talked to her so comfortably. Jealousy coursing through his body like lava, he controlled his instinctual reaction as best as he could, managing to not destroy her whole home after their moment had been ruined by this little shit. She explained to him that ‘AZ’ was only a side mission, a boss monster --that was the first red flag that was raised in his mind, and, between snarls and growls, he started listening, paying attention.

And stars did this take the fucking cake.

When she finished, she asked him if he knew of any other boss monsters and if it was even remotely possible for the prince to have been revived. Sans stared into space for the longest time, however, refusing to say anything more than a dismissive and questionable ‘ _nah_ ’. She left shortly after, having been called by her partner, One, about some case she didn’t want to talk about, especially considering how he flipped out on her regarding her ‘ _monster -fucking romp_ ’ as he called it.

Not that he had the energy to continue, not after the piece of information she fed to him, only to have him calm down nevertheless.

Alphys fiddled with her thumbs, breathing saccaded as the magic of her once-friend pressed aggressively on her stubby body. His left eye flared to life while his other socket emptied completely and the yellow monster could positively say that she was mortified. Never had she seen Sans so angry before, not in eons, not since Papyrus grew up and did...did _that_ to him.

Her eyes flickered momentarily to the golden tooth. 

Suddenly, his hand shot up towards her and at least ten sharpened bones materialized out of thin air, impaling the wall behind her and catching some of her navy blue polka dotted dress to pin her to the surface, in warning. “don’t fuckin’ lie to me!”

“Y-you don’t u-understand!?” she cried out, her arms having raised up to shield her face as she trembled.

“listen here, alph. when somethin’s dead, its s’pposed to stay dead, ya dig? so what the fuck am i not understandin’ here?”

“I-I didn’t do it on p-purpose!” her arms came down as she screeched that out, fat tears rolling down her anxiety and fear ridden face. Stars, she looked worse than last he’d seen her.

Heaving, she gripped the material of her dress above her breast and sobbed. “I d-didn’t even know it was him...i-it was just that s-stupid flower I injected with...with determination, remember?” another sniffle. “It...it came to life, remember?” she was hyperventilating, clutching at her chest and shaking violently.

“T-That’s how I made the amalgamates, y-you know that...and--and then the flower disappeared, l-like it had a mind of its own! I-It wasn’t like those disgusting...t-things…”

Sans remembered when she came clean with what happened to those monsters that she ran her experiments on. He also remembered how he told her she went mad, that her little project wouldn’t work --but Asgore put pressure on her, over and over again, threatening to dust her if she didn’t do something. She did...and she told him about it, confided in him about that accursed flower.

“T-Then...when...when the barrier broke...I-I caught it!” her eyes wild, she looked up at him, glasses slipping on her snout “It w-was by the door….I...I captured it! Y-You won’t believe what I...what I discovered! It could talk...it….it was…” she trailed off, crumpling to the floor on her knees.

“...what did ya do, alph…. _what the fuck_ did ya do?”

“I...I merged it with a human SOUL...a SOUL of kindness...t-then...it turned into….into him! I-I was s-so scared! I hid him away...l-locked him away, t-too afraid...I-I t-thought he w-would die anyway...t-that much power...h-how was it even…” she wheezed, bringing both clawed hands to slide over her face. “T-Then...after t-the white-faces t-took over….a-after a y-year or so, t-they came to-to me...t-to one of m-my lectures...a-asked about a m-monster c-claiming to be...Asriel...I-I said no, I d-denied everything….”

Sans felt hot, boiling rage for the pathetic scientist.

“does asgore know?”

“N-No...I-I c-couldn’t…”

“does anyone know ‘bout this?”

“...N-No…”

With a snarl and an exhausted sigh, the skeleton sat down on the tiled floor, hands over his skull and back leaned on the doorframe. “what the fuck were ya thinkin’?”

The scariest thing was that Two got involved in this somehow.

He couldn’t imagine how --”do ya even know if he’s stable?”

“I...I think so? He...he remembers things,” she admitted, slumped against the wall, sniffling and tired. “I-I’m so s-sorry Sans...I d-didn’t know w-what I was d-doing,” her stuttering was getting on his nerves. She did know what she was doing, she just didn’t expect the results, and a boss monster, alive? Mingling with his human?

“bullshit,”

“Y-you left me all _alone_! Y-you w-were supposed to be m-my partner! We m-made this happen, t-the determination in-injections and t-the human b-blasters...a-and y-you _abandoned_ me!”

“‘cause ya were goin’ bonkers with all this shit!”

“I-I was only trying to live up to-to _his_ n-name!” she yelled at Sans, for the first time since they have known each other. Alphys was a quiet monster, always whispering, whimpering and hiding behind her creations, her amalgamates and her experiments, but as she put her feelings into words, the skeleton was taken aback both by the meaning and the tonality.

“well now ya got somethin’ in common. ya both done fucked up and lost ya minds with all the shit ya tryina pull, playin’ god and givin’ life... _who the fuck do ya think ya are_?”

Now he was truly furious. Just the mention of _him_ made him bristle, the shit he did, the shit that ended up swallowing him whole, proof of his madness.

“Y-Your brother was b-brilliant! D-Don’t talk like that a-about him!”

Oh, so the nerd got a sudden surge of courage huh? Standing up with a scowl, the skeleton summoned a blaster, the enormous skull barely fitting between her and him in the kitchen, its pin-pricks glaring silently at her as if she was looking death itself in the face. Its maw was closed but Alphys knew the potential this weapon had to kill instantly, to tear one apart from existence. Her snout fell shut and she slammed her back to the wall with a whimper.

“i’ll talk however the fuck i please ‘bout him,”

He almost entertained the idea of blasting her dead, but now was not the time, not when she could come in handy...and not when...not when he was finally doing good with Two, doing right by her --if he went along with killing Alphys, he wouldn’t be able to look his soulmate in the eye again. He changed, didn't he? 

What needed to be done was to see for himself how Asriel was doing. Maybe he was living harmlessly, scraping by, maybe he was not a threat, boss monster or not. The Asriel he remembered was not the kind of monster you wanted to cross paths with --perhaps death changed him.

Suddenly, the fact that he didn’t know where Two was at this moment, became uncomfortable and bothersome, bordering on maddening.

What was even the nature of their relationship? Was that why he caught her wearing a wig and going all undercover? Not because she was scared of him finding her but because of this side mission? If that were the case, why was she dressed so nice and why did she wear all that face paint?

_Was she fucking him?_

“ya better not tell anyone ‘bout this, ya get what i’m sayin’?”

The reptilian monster nodded fast, pressed tightly against the wall. “an’ if undyne comes at me, i’m gonna dust ‘er off, so ya keep this lil’ meetin’ between us, got it?”

Another eager nod.

“ _good._ ”

The gaster blaster dissipated in a red glow and the skeleton left in a hurry, sweating and mumbling to himself.

When she left at sunset, she left slamming the door. They argued and yelled, went hard and rough as if they were going to war with each other. An hour after the silence settled in and all he could hear was the buzzing of his magic, Sans felt the guilt in his gut spreading out like fire.

He just found her again and now he fucked up. But could anyone blame him?

As soon as he was outside the apartment building they lived in, he breathed in and out fast, anxiety making him short of breath. Sweat drops slid down his skull and his brow bones knitted together as a keen left him.

 _Shit, shit shit._ He needed to know where she was.

With shaking phalanges, he reached into his jacket’s pocket for his phone and fidgeted with the buttons, calling her. No answer, straight to voicemail.

“hey sweetheart…” shit, his voice was breaking “‘m sorry ‘bout earlier...i’ll be waitin’ for ya at home...yea?”

He cringed. Why was he having so much trouble breathing, why was everything spinning with him? Stars, was he having a panic attack?

What in the name of Asgore was he doing?

Home? Calling her place home? Saying sorry?

To think that a few days ago he wanted to kill her after he just found out she had been alive all this time. Just one look at her and he was back on his knees, falling in love with her all over again.

Heh.

_Love._

He felt so stupid for crawling back to her. But no matter how many times he thought that, he couldn’t help himself, he was stuck on her. It had to be her or nobody else. And if he couldn’t have her, _nobody would_.

 _That_ , that he had control over.

He could do that if he thought about it in that way, she just didn’t give him any reasons to think about it like that yet.

A cold breeze crashed trough and made the faux fur of his hood rustle, chilling him in the process and bringing him out of thought. Red pin-pricks looked around as if he just realized where he was and how there were passersby that looked at him oddly, human and monster.

He would show her how much he loved her. He’d make her need him like he needed her.

Yea, that was a good plan. That was a start. Tail her later and see what he was up against with this new version of a revived Asriel, see what fucked up monster Alphys created.

See if she was screwing him too.

Jagged teeth clenched together at that and eye lights dimmed almost completely.

  


* * *

  


One was dusty. His hands especially, the white powder-like substance getting stuck in some of his red curls as he slipped off his mask. Finding him like this, with his battle axe dirty, and, an epiphanous look in his eyes, was not what you expected when you received his text.

Not like you weren’t thankful for the summoning.

_“AZ, I’m fine, I promise, don’t worry, just exhausted,”_

_The goat monster had called you numerous times, apparently, and each time, you didn’t respond. Now, he sounded extremely anxious and worried, like he couldn’t get any sleep over this. You chewed on your bottom lip in irritation._

_The subject was becoming clingy. Some more space would be preferable before he got attached, that wasn’t the point of this assignment._

_“I’m free in two days, Sunday, we can go out then, I’ll even let you pick my tea this time,”_

_You could hear his smile through the phone, reluctant and weak. He agreed, told you he missed you. “I miss you too, AZ,”_

_Endearing, that’s how you found his affectionate nature, an antithesis to the monster you had in your bed. However, you were not that kind of person, the kind he was looking for. It needed to stop. “Goodbye, I’ll text you the time and place,”_

_Just as your finger slid over the end call, the door to the bathroom slammed open, giving way for a very pissed off skeleton, rage rolling off of him in waves. You were left staring with your mouth agape at how the handle of the door left a dent in the wall behind it. Now, who the fuck did he think he was to slam the doors in your damn house? What bills did he pay to do that? “Did you just bang my door on my wall or was that just my imagination?” you snarled at him as soon as you got your bearings, standing up from the bathtub’s edge._

_“who the fuck’s AZ?” he growled right back at you. “None of your fucking business, that’s who,”_

From then, it was history. More doors were slammed, some glasses thrown, a couch turned upside down and screaming ensued. Until you finally threw your hands up and started telling him what was going on, mainly because your damn house was being torn apart.

Skillfully, you left out some details, such as the monster that got away and was currently on a killing spree for some reason.

But you didn’t miss the sudden quiet that settled over Sans when you mentioned the name Asriel, revival, Alphys and flower.

Before you could question that properly, One had messaged you with news, claiming he had information regarding the culprit.

So, here you were, staring at your partner while he dusted off his weapon and took his time, in an alleyway, at night, near the docks area. “I hope you brought some coffee with you, because we are going to be here a while,”

“Why don’t you tell me what exactly we’re doing here?”

Emeralds fixed you with a glint of smugness to them, mouth quirked in a smirk as he closed the distance between the two of you and placed his dusty forehead to yours, one hand going through your dark curls to the nape of your neck. “You’ll see, Ava. Just have patience, this is a stakeout.”

The gesture itself had you speechless, he was never the touchy feely type of guy, coupled with the air of mystery that he was enveloping you in, it was certainly worrisome. As if he just realized what he did, the redhead pulled away and pointed to the fire-escape of the warehouse he chose to meet behind. “We’ll need to be on the top, did you get everything I asked?”

Clearing your throat and trying not to question what just happened, you nodded, showing him the backpack that you had slung over your shoulder. “I can go get some coffee since this is a stakeout, might need the extra boost if we’re gonna be here a while,”

“Sounds good, give me the bag so it doesn’t weigh you down,”

  
...

One hour later, you were sitting on the roof of the warehouse, drinking coffee and watching the docks below, using the infrared binoculars he asked you to bring along. Fully dressed in your hunter outfits, minus the masks, you weren’t too bothered by the crisp cold that settled in the air of the night. It was winter, after all.

Just thinking about the holidays coming made you cringe.

“So how did you find out about this, whatever this is?” you finally popped the question, deciding it was the right moment as enough time passed between that weird ass forehead to forehead thing he did, and now. Shifting from his position by the ledge and placing his binoculars down, One glanced back at you, lips pressed into a thin line. “Not through conventional ways,”

_Oh._

“You dusted a monster huh?”

“Three, actually,” his voice had no tonality, just fell flat, completely opposite to how proud and smug he was an hour or so ago.

“What about your regulations? If anyone finds out that you did that --” you got cut off when his startling green eyes fixed you in a manner that seemed...threatening. “That’s why no one will find out. In this case, you were right, the regulations do not serve our best interests,”

You sipped some coffee from your cup, letting a comfortable pause make way between you two.

“How is the boss monster assignment going?” he asked as a matter of factly, turning back to observing the streets below and the few ships that were being loaded by the piers.

 _This asshole_. Eyebrows pinching together, you gave the back of his head a dirty look. “As planned,”

“You’re not getting attached, are you?” when he inquired, he didn’t even look back at you, but you could tell the words were meant to cut. Somehow, during your darkest moments, you confessed some things to him, leaving out others, keeping them to yourself. He knew, though, he knew how you befriended the skeleton monster that came to them back then, that took the kids out, that helped the hunters take over and bring down the barrier.

He knew that you allowed yourself to...get attached. But not in the way you really did, not how you were still.

God fucking damn it, just admitting this to yourself felt ludicrous.

“No.”

Hell, you were positive One would shove that axe into your skull without second thought if he found out you fucked a monster. Maybe you were exaggerating, but...still.

“This is it,” the eager exclamation coming from the male had you snap out of your thoughts and flick your eyes over the ledge, where your own binoculars laid untouched. “What?” dumb question, yes, but as you crawled over, next to your partner, and picked up the infrared goggles, you let your embarrassment go. There were no more humans at the docks, but in the guise of the night, shapes moved and slithered.

Monsters, at least two dozens.

“Holy...shit…”

Why were they gathering here? What was up with this? One quickly got out one of the hunter devices, the tagged monsters appearing as little dots on a radar-like screen. Nothing was out of the ordinary so far, you realized, about to start questioning the redhead on why this was a stakeout, when from quite literally nowhere, a portal that completely blinded your binoculars’ vision appeared.

The tagger in One’s hand went haywire and the streetlights from the nearby streets all flickered.

Then silence.

A monster emerged from the dark hole, tall and slow. “This is it,” you heard One whisper beside you, staring at the device in his gloved hands. “He’s the monster that got away, the one we didn’t tag, the killer,” he added spitefully, glancing at your widening eyes.

“Put on your mask, adjust your vision to infrared, we’re recording this,” he turned to the scene again, snatching his mask from beside him and attaching it to his face without even looking. “What? No! We’re going there to take that asshole in!” you hissed back at him. The stark white mask turned to you sharply.

“No, not now. We need proof,”

“This bitch being here un-tagged is proof enough! We’re hunters not some god damn police officers --”

“Do as I say and stop fighting me on everything,” the finality in his tone didn't scare you off, not even when he dismissed you by turning back to watching the unraveling happen.

“One, we have them right here in our hands, if we attack now, we can end all of this in one fell swoop. No more killings! Are you insane?”

“Two, this is an order. _Stand down_ ,”

…

.......

“Two?”

As the hunter turned to look at where you stood a few seconds ago, he quickly realized you were gone. Down the fire escape and in the shadows, you made your way through alleyways and behind storage containers, until you were close enough to assess the situation. _“Two, respond. Return to your position at once,”_ came the authoritarian voice of One through the earpiece of your mask.

“Negative. I’m at least getting a closer look at this,”

With that said, you turned off your mask’s mic.

The buzz of magic, powerful and potent, made your skin prickle underneath your suit, so much so that not even the bite of cold bothered you. Strategically choosing your next position, you snuck around skillfully and stealthily, deciding that the blue cargo container atop another yellow one was as good as it could get to a clear view.

Swiftly, you climbed both and crawled atop it, the height giving you an advantage as the voices started becoming comprehensible. On your elbows, you slid just a pinch away from the edge facing the gathered group, one yard away from you.

Finally, you peered, your mask visor showing you the statistics of each monster, before your eyes fell on their leader in their midst. It was tall, slim, dressed all in black and with a stark white face that resembled that of a ghoul’s or a very deformed skeleton’s.

The visor glitched. Your eyes widened as the ATK and HP kept going in and out, from 0 to 99999.

What the fuck even?

He made hand motions, his magic mimicking his gestures in the shape of...hands made of smoke.

 _‘He who speaks in--’_ hands? The phrase echoed into your mind.

Forcing your visor to zoom in on the entity and the darkness that surrounded it like tendrils, you almost screamed when abruptly, its violet pupil trained on you.

The hideous face tilted to the side and its jagged smile widened.

But it made no move. You stayed there frozen, eyes locked on the fiend like prey, feeling the tingles of its -- _his_ magic like an incredible weigh.

 _Golden petals. Your blood. The child with the buttercup tiara. A king and his trident_ \---through his eyes, as if he was there. You exhaled shakily.

**Fuck.**

And then, suddenly, he was gone. Devoured by the thick shadows through which he came, swallowed whole. As soon as he vanished, you could breathe again, you could move your body and you released a heavy breath, twisting on your back and taking in deep gulps of air.

_Holy shit._

What the fuck was that? Who the fuck was that? “-wo...in...do you --copy?”

You didn’t know how long you laid there on the cool metal of the container, but it must have been a long time, because One found you still there, staring blankly at nothing when he removed your mask. All the monsters were gone, the docks completely empty. You know he shook you, but his voice was background noise and nothing more, until he slapped you hard enough to turn your head to the side.

Your gloved hand slid over the stinging cheek, through the dark strands of your hair, and your unfocused eyes came up to look at your partner. He looked...genuinely scared, agitated. You have never seen him like this.

“W...what just happened?”

Breathing out his relief, in an uncharacteristic manner, he gathered you to his chest and buried his face into your hair, tightly holding you there. “You crazy screw-up of a woman…”

“...did you just slap me?”

“Shut the fuck up,”

This, you didn’t know what this was, but it scared you shitless. With one glance, it was as if he saw your whole life and you knew that he knew you were there. Somehow, you understood that from this point on, nothing was going to be okay and despite you taking comfort in your partner’s safe embrace, you couldn’t help but yearn for someone else’s comfort, one that could offer you the security and safety you sought out right now.

 ...

Unfortunately, when you got back home, he was not there.

The apartment was empty and dark, with the damaged goods still laying about.

Those things that you saw through him, that he saw through you, they terrified you. Like a child, you curled up on the couch where he had slept, where you could still smell him, fished for the blanket he used in all the chaos that was your living room and closed your eyes in hopes of a dreamless sleep.

God, _you were so pathetic._

In the shadows, lurking, you knew, there was a threat like no other. One that made your whole body tremble. Tomorrow you would go to your father with the footage, but for now….for now you could only shelter yourself from your own demons, threatening at the corners of the room, waiting, watching, famished.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you liked it, please kudos, bookmark and most importantly, comment!  
> i love hearing what you guys think! <3


	8. match in the gas tank, oh, that's wretched

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an update, as promised!  
> this is more or less, a self-discovery chapter  
> hope you'll enjoy it regardless!   
> please give me feedback cause i love that shit. thank.
> 
> song to go with this: Faith Marie - Devil On My Shoulder

The clock across from you, on the wall above, tick-tocked in tandem with your rabbiting heart. 

It used to be easier when the two races were at war. It was simple. Kill, flee, plan, fight, escape, run, dust off, duck. A cycle, normalcy. Sitting in the hallway by your father’s office, though, this didn’t feel natural. The bounce of your leg paused momentarily. 

Your fingers slipped from the reigns as soon as you had to face him. Control was snatched away from your hands and you were left feeling like a little kid again, waiting to be chided by this adult, this example, this role model that you aspired to be like. 

If only he’d allow it. You were too much like your mother, he had once told you after he drank himself silly. One of the very rare times when he actually touched alcohol. Their anniversary. 

Your thumbs caressed the stark white mask in your lap, eyes darting over its visor and then at the clock again with something akin to desperation.

You hated this. 

Yes, he was a council member, he did hold a very important position within the political system now with the integration of monsters into society and the organization’s extraordinary results regarding the winning of the petty war. 

He was validated. His purpose finally took the shape he'd wished for all these years. 

And you? You were left with nothing but ash in your mouth. He rarely even concerned himself with you any more. The only times you heard from him was through orders you’d get from superiors, not even himself. 

If you could find out where your mother lived, where she was now, you would curse her for this life she made for you and him. You would cuss her out for abandoning him and you, cuss her for making you into her image and wish her life would be as miserable as she made his. 

Bitterly, you realized, lately you had been thinking a lot about the past. Your mind was no longer occupied with battle and survival, therefore, it roamed free. Somehow, seeing him made old demons break surface. Was that normal to feel with a parent? 

“Miss Tait, he is ready to receive you,” his pretty blonde secretary chirped as she opened the door half-way. Instantly, you shot up on your feet and marched inside, following the slim woman guide you through a reception room, where her office was and then the door to your father’s own little haven. 

“Would you like anyth--” “No, just go away,” you snapped at her with more aggression than you intended. Truth be told, you hated other women getting close and cozy with your father. For his age, he still looked good, groomed and mannered, but your mind could not accept him by anyone else’s side other than yours. No woman was worthy, no woman was good enough or would ever be good enough to stand by his shoulder, like your mother did. 

The lady in question flinched and looked away, intimidated by your scorching glare, before she scurried away on her ten inch heels. 

Inwardly, you cringed. There was so much anger inside you, god damn it. 

One deep breath later, you rapped your gloved knuckles on the door, counted to three and turned the handle. Your father was busily writing something down, a stack of papers by his side. There was an ashtray on the coffee table not far from his desk, the lipstick on the butt of one catching your attention --that fucking hag. Your expression darkened and your jaw clenched. 

“Ava,” 

Him saying your name had you snap out of it. Ice blues met each other in an identically frozen manner. You didn’t even realize he paused to look up at you. “Was there anything you needed to tell me?” he continued, nudging you to speak up. 

He was busy, clearly. He wanted to get rid of you, like the burden you were. 

“Uh…” you intelligently started “...I...I’m here,” your throat constricted “...about the footage I sent you, from my mask. I have my mask here…” you raised your hand, fingers clutching on said object, towards him “...if you want to see it for yourself, clearly there is a radical group. I e-mailed you the cases that were a match, it seems there is truth to my theory and--”

“I read and saw everything already,” he interrupted you, his harsh expression remaining unchanged. 

You cleared your throat, one step forward. “Then you understand why a thorough investigation is in order,” 

“No, actually, I don’t,” he responded promptly, leaning back in his chair. “That was an unauthorised stakeout. You had no right to record that, you had no permission to look into the cases or question the competency of your fellow hunters,” 

You couldn’t form coherent words, only stared dumbly as your own father swept the rug from under your feet. 

“Furthermore, this is a mockery of the teachings you have been fortunate to receive, from me, from your mentors. Who do you think you are to make up all these accusations? Are you playing detective, Ava? How old are you? Six?” 

He stood up from his desk, the expensive navy suit giving no crumple as he moved around the luxurious wooden piece of furniture. “Dad, surely you can see that--”

“That what? That you broke every regulation under the treaty we have in place? That you pissed on everything our ancestors have fought for? That you are dragging One down with you?”

“I’m not! This is serious! People, humans, are dying on the streets! I have the proof here that a monster is roaming free, everything is tied together, this is the missing--”

Your head snapped to the side and you lost your balance at the impact, hitting the ground on your back with a gasp. Eyes widened and teary, you slowly brought a hand to your throbbing cheekbone. “You are a disgrace, so much like your mother. You believe you’re right when everyone is telling you that you’re not, you fight me at every corner, argue with me when my word is final!” he roared.

After a few moments of silence, in which you tried your best not to even breathe as your eyes became unbearably glossy, he straightened up, cleared his throat and by the sounds of his footsteps, took his seat at the desk again. “This is my own fault, Ava, you simply don’t know better. I shouldn’t have allowed you to return to the field as you are clearly not fit. Cease all this foolishness, you’re only embarrassing yourself,” 

You wouldn’t cry. Not in front of him. 

Quietly, as quiet as a mouse, you stood up, dusted yourself off and bowed your head submissively. “I understand. I’m sorry,” 

“That’s what I like to hear. If this happens again, I will make sure you are to be taken off the force promptly, are we clear?” 

“Yes,”

“Very well. Dismissed. Amalia will show you out,”

As if on cue, the pretty blonde opened the door and waited patiently for you to walk through it, casting your only parent one last glance. There would be a bruise forming soon, but honestly, nothing hurt more than your soul at this moment. 

He managed to rip you into little pieces just with his words. He was supposed to stand by you, support you, after all you’ve done, after all you’ve been through, you expected a change of some sort, but that was wishful thinking wasn’t it? Going as far as comparing you to your mother. Instead...oh god, never in this life did you think you would...wish ill upon your own father. Right now, however, you really wanted to hurt him somehow. Make him suffer and ache like you were now.

“See you again soon, Miss Tait!” 

“Fuck off Amanda.”

 

* * *

 

The smell of the rehabilitation center was clinical, to put it in simple words. Bleach and medicine. There were monsters sitting inside the waiting room, on different sections, ranging from A to Z, by alphabetical order. Sans was sitting in the S section, where he was registered and tagged as soon as he was released from this facility. 

Today was that day. 

They checked the tag, they asked some questions, a monthly check-up. It was a way for the humans to keep an eye on them, as if they were some numbers, just to make sure none went missing or escaped this process. 

Taking it off was a felony. And they would know. Sans tried numerous times to hack his own tag and get it off, but after three alarms and two low-ranked hunters coming at his door, he gave up on it, accepted his stupid ass fate. 

“Number 87, you’re up,” 

Casting one glance at the crumpled note in his phalanges, the skeleton grunted and hoisted himself up from the uncomfortable plastic chair he’d been sitting on. 

“Good morning, Sans,” the old lady greeted him. She always did his tests and check-ups. “There have been some spikes of magic that have been recorded,” she continued when he didn’t respond and just sat back on the rolling chair at her desk. Her eyes fixed him from under thick black-rimmed glasses. “Mind telling me what that was about?”

“jus’ scarin’ off some assholes, y’know how some humans can get,”

A knowledgeable expression fell over her face and she nodded. “Alright, I understand. As long as it was only in defense, I can’t really blame you,” she stated, albeit, with some bite in her tone that was not addressed at him. 

Mattie was a nice woman, decent and righteous. Many times, he got away with shit he did that was not exactly orthodox. 

He raised both hands up “defence only, promise,” he grinned at her. 

She shook her head, but smiled nonetheless, flipping through the pages of his monthly report. “Looks like everything’s in order with your tag, it works fine. No suspicious activity, no issues. Might say I’m impressed with this month’s charts,”

“yea, been a good boy an’ all,” he winked as he slowly swayed in the chair. “hey, mattie, can i ask ya somethin’?”

The woman placed the papers down and looked at him with an arched eyebrow, prompting him to continue. “ya know of any boss monsters that’re tagged?”

“Asgore, naturally,” 

“i know ‘bout him. there any others?”

Sizing him up with a long pause, the old lady looked away and then back at him. “There’s some talk about another, but everything’s kept hush-hush, the organization is involved in that. We don’t wanna step on their toes, they don’t like that very much,” she explained.

“What’s it to you?”

“nothin’ important. jus’ an ol’ pal of mine, wan’ed to know if he made it out,” he shrugged, lying through his teeth with ease. 

“I’ll keep my ears open and I’ll let you know?”

His eye-lights brightened and his grin hitched higher. “that’d be sweet, thanks doc,” 

“No problem, Sans. You have the same phone number, yes?”

“yea, same old, same old.”

With that, the monster stood up from the chair, making the woman also stand up from her desk, to accompany him to the door. “I’ll give you a call, see you next month, same date, same hour,” 

One last smile and the door of the office was closed on him. 

At least he got his confirmation. 

Last night, when he returned to her apartment, she wasn’t there, so he waited, until past midnight, when he muttered a ‘screw it’ and left. Clearly, she was on some stupid mission with her stupid partner. Or fucking some other guy --or monster. He decided he wasn’t going to hunt her down or call her, he was not in the best mental state. That alone was exercising some self-restraint he didn’t think he had.

So, now, after his check-up, Sans was standing in the snow by her apartment building, looking up at the floor she was on. The curtains were drawn, so that meant she was home, she didn’t like her home dark.

Closing his eye sockets, his magic buzzed and thrummed. The void sucked him inside and his body dematerialized as he teleported to the mental image of her bedroom. 

What he didn’t expect to find, was her at her vanity, patching up her face. 

As soon as his red pin-pricks fell over the bruise she was covering in the mirror, he felt his SOUL responding with bubbling fury. Her eyes widened when she caught his image reflected and she lurched in her seat, turning to face him so fast her hair whipped around her body. 

“Sans! What the--”

“who did that to ya?” he snarled, unable to keep the feeling in his gut telling him to rip the culprit to shreds. Instinctually, he needed to protect her and the bruise on her cheek was him failing miserably at that. 

A pang of shame hit him like a wave, sadness like a bitter pill and then annoyance, crisp and burning. He savored her emotions one by one. “Nobody, perks of being a hunter is all,” she reluctantly mumbled, returning to her mirror and her beauty products laid out. 

She was lying. 

Her SOUL then pulsed with something powerful, something that made him clamp his jaws shut and watch as the ravenette slammed her hands on the surface, making the make-up tools clatter and roll off. 

“Just...just fucking leave it!” she suddenly hissed. Her shoulders slumped and her head bowed, yet her crimson heart flashed dangerously, betraying the outward defeat her body showed so openly. 

“How….how can you still be here? After everything, despite everything, you’re still…” 

His bone brows drew together and the slit pupils of his eyes observed her with a weariness he hadn’t shown towards her before. Rarely it happened that he couldn’t read another’s intentions. 

She shot up, causing her chair to fall back. Then, her inner turmoil stopped, her SOUL became calm, as if she just came to terms with something she’d been fighting for a long time. Glancing back at him, her frozen gaze made him recoil with the intensity rolling out in waves and his eye-lights shrunk. 

What was she going to do? 

What was her intent?

His magic was buzzing, no longer so sure of himself, no longer feeling safe and sound. 

In several strides, she closed the distance between them and shook him to his core when her hands came up to cup his face and her lips crushed, literally, against his open grin. 

His SOUL pulsed in yearning at her gesture and as he watched with shrunk pupils how her eyes remained tightly shut, he understood what her conflict had been about. Somehow, he could feel fluttering in his guts, a sentiment he didn’t think he’d ever feel again, he felt high, as if he were floating. 

She was kissing him, on her own volition. She wanted this. She wanted _him_. His questions would have to wait. She needed him.

_ Thump. Thump. Thump.  _

Their SOULS touched and the feelings crept through both of them like a raging storm. He reached out and grasped the back of her head with desperation, phalanges tangling into her dark locks, opening his mouth and accepting her kiss fully. 

She made a light noise as their tongues came together in a heated battle for dominance and he could swear he saw stars behind his closing eyelids when she broke their union and peppered kisses over his face. Something shifted, something _changed_. He didn’t know what, but he embraced it without question or doubt. 

  
...

 

For the first time since Snowdin, you saw him again. _Clearly._

The fucked up sense of humor fate had for you no longer mattered as much. You were lying on your bed, staring at each other, on your sides, in complete silence. Never before had you been able to look at things so vividly. 

Not until your father showed you the path. Alas, not in the way you were expecting. 

He never hit you like that. Never since you were born did he lay a finger on you like that. Sure, he trained you and as a result, you were often in bad shape, with bruises or cuts, but those were not done maliciously, hatefully or with the intent to make you suffer. 

Today, however, you finally saw his colors. How long did he want to do that? Did you really remind him so much of your mother than he couldn’t take it anymore and lashed out? He didn’t seem regretful after it. For such a long time you blamed one parent and put the other on a pedestal, without faltering in your decision of who was good and who was not. Naturally, the parent that was present was good and the one that abandoned had to be bad. 

But what if that wasn’t the case? 

For such a long time, you demonized her, he...he painted her as nothing but a burden, a burden that made the wrong decision and abandoned you both. So, why did you remember her kind smile? Surely, a person so cruel wouldn’t be able to smile so gently, or caress you so lovingly. 

His phalanges trailed down your cheekbone, the one that throbbed, and you closed your eyes. 

Sans. You came to realize how similar the two of you were. He never stopped caring for you, no matter how much time passed, no matter how you wronged him. Could you blame him for the reaction he had when he found you alive? Not really, maybe he exaggerated a bit with the killing, but….if you had been in his shoes, wouldn’t you have been just as enraged? 

He was uncouth, tactless, blunt and an all around brute.

But, his intentions shone the brightest golden. Compared to him, you were such a bad person. You were doing to him what your father was doing to you, if not worse. 

Through this revelation did you realize how much of a shitty person you’ve been. Telling him to go away, insulting him, beating him, threatening to kill him, rejecting him, abandoning him. 

You’d think he’d be gone by now, but no. He stuck around stubbornly while you twiddled your fingers, not knowing what you felt or knowing how to feel for him. 

Denying that there were no feelings at all was denying yourself the right to breathe. Denying that you had felt incomplete all these years was like denying you needed water to live. Hell, you immersed yourself so deep in work and missions, that you forgot to focus on anything regarding your person. You were allowed to have your own dreams, to have your own desires, thoughts and...feelings. What was so wrong with that?

You denied yourself the right to breathe and drink, starved yourself silly and...and now what?

You were denying yourself the right to be who you have always been, just because of a father, that didn’t even give two shits about you, telling you what was right. You knew what was right, your gut was right, your instinct was right, your whole being was telling you what was right, so who was he, to tell you what wasn’t? Yes, it hurt like a bitch to admit these to yourself, to have this honest conversation with yourself, but it would be worth it in the long run. It was right to follow the lead and pursue this monster to bring him to justice, this was your purpose as a hunter, it had always been. So what if others strayed from the idea that birthed this organization? You would stand true. 

The bones forming his palm rested on your cheek, so gently, so carefully. When you opened your eyes and met his, your heart thumped erratically in your chest and butterflies filled your stomach. Nobody looked at you the way this monster, this _savage_ , was looking at you now. 

“I see you,” voice only a whisper of a murmur, you let your tucked hand from your chest, to reach across and touch his side of the face gingerly. His red pin-pricks brightened.

“i see ya too,”

_ Thump. Thump.  _

Yes, this, this intimacy, it filled you with _determination_. You would see this through, you would learn and you would stumble, but you’d be damned if you’d go down without a fight. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos, bookmark and more importantly, leave your thoughts in the comment section!  
> love you guys~


	9. how long will it take for you to lean on me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update time!   
> here you are folks, the plot thickens. there's some...smutty stuff, light, but still there  
> so that's my warning orz ;;  
> pls leave me comments, thank.
> 
> song to go with this : Bohnes - Six Feet Under

Looking at the skeleton sleeping soundly on your bed, you realized that freeing yourself of the burden you’ve been carrying around for years now, it felt as if a major weight had been lifted off of your shoulders. Now, you could breathe easier, things seemed more vivid, more clear.

To think that such an insignificant thing had such an effect.

The coffee mug in your hands was cold, even though you made it recently, after you two whispered your confessions and sweet nothings in the comfort of your bed. Nothing happened, nothing sexual, but somehow it felt more intimate than everything you’ve done with him, which was saying something. Exhausted, you both just fell asleep, with you waking up an hour ago.

Quietly, you shifted in your seat at the vanity. The bruise was hot and hurting, pulsing with a dull ache.

Your decision was made, however. You would pursue this, with or without support. Might as well go the extra mile, even if your peers didn’t believe anymore. In fact, you had half a mind to...try and find your mother, hear the words from the horse’s mouth, as they say, connect some old missing dots, for your own peace.

“mornin’ sweetheart,”

His groggy and gruff voice made you snap out of your thoughts, eyes mirroring red glowing pin-pricks, calm and content.

“It’s eight pm,”

He shrugged and hogged the blanket shamelessly.

You deadpanned. “You’re so lazy,” _and gross_ , you wanted to add as you took in how trashy he looked, but your stupid heart wouldn’t let you, not when you finally gave into your feelings at last. Felt wrong to be rude to him now. Hopefully this would pass and you could return to your usual insulting self

“c’mon in bed an’ i’ll show ya how lazy i can be,” he muffled into the pillow, shifting under the covers and popping one bony arm out to pat the spot next to him.

“I need to work on a case,” you countered, taking a sip from your coffee. He groaned loudly and sat up slowly, shooting you a glare. “ya really need’ta chill,”

“I am chilling, this is how I chill,”

“das jus’ sad,”

“Excuse me?”

“sweetheart, it ain’t my fault, but das lame,”

“No, it’s called being productive,”

“s’called workaholic. i used ta be like ya, ain’t a road ya should take,”

That made you perk up. Sans a workaholic? When did hell freeze over? Yes, you knew he was extremely smart, smarter than you’d be able to imagine, but active, involved? That, you couldn’t exactly see.

“And when was that? When dinosaurs roamed the earth?”

He yawned, jagged teeth reminding you of what he really was. A hidden part of your mind shuddered, prompted you to instinctively look away in primal self-preservation, as if you were in the same room with a predator and not just someone you had shared a bed a couple of hours prior.

Taking notice faster than the speed of light, he clamped his jaws shut, crimson eye lights shrinking as he fixed you with an air of uncertainty. “Well?” you glanced back at him, trying to make the awkwardness go away.

“uh…” he shoved the blanket aside, sweat starting to become visible on the top of his skull “eons ago, when my bro was the scientist--” he paused, like he just realized he was saying something he shouldn’t be.

“Papyrus?”

He didn’t strike you as the smart type, for some reason. Cruel, yes, not intelligent.

“nah, s’not important anyway,”

Another brother? Another skeleton? Your brows knitted together.

_'It was tall, slim, dressed all in black and with a stark white face that resembled that of a ghoul’s or a very deformed skeleton’s.'_

It couldn’t be, could it? “Didn’t know you had another brother,” you mused, eyes fixed on him as he dangled his feet over the bed’s edge. He visibly stiffened. “s’not important,”

But it was important, it was for you.

“Alright, well, I’m gonna go work on the case, there’s the leftover breakfast in the fridge,” you stood up as you spoke, rolling your shoulders and making your back pop. In a second, his pupils dilated and he was in front of you, blocking you between his bones and your vanity, phalanges on your hips and digging in. “who said ya could go?”

You almost dropped your coffee mug. His teeth bumped your lips. “Sans. I really --” “i’m kinda hungry for some monsta’ burgs, but i’ll settle for eatin’ out,”

What a horny sack of bones.

Before you could shove him away and make any biting remarks, your ass was hauled up on the vanity, knocking off your make-up products, phone and some bottle of perfume, with the skeleton’s head between your parted legs.

Shit. But your scars --

The fact that you had changed into your over-sized t-shirt when you got home, suddenly made you aware of how exposed you really were, panties and nothing else to hide you away from his prying red eyes. And your ugly scars --

Well, you had the big fluffy polka dotted socks on. Not that that could do anything.

His sinful tongue lapped shamelessly at your left thigh and you leaned your head back with a sharp inhale, choosing to place the cup on the vanity before it became a nasty coffee stain on your carpet. “Sans, I really need to --”

“shuddup,” he pointedly grunted, two phalanges running over the line of your panties, right above -- _oh fuck_. Your hand shot out over his wrist in another attempt at stopping him and getting work done.

Vaguely, through your hazing up mind, you realized this was just his way of making you stop prying into his personal life, or at least, his past, without having to rudely shove you off. A defense-mechanism, if you will. “c’mon sweetheart, s’been too long,”

“It’s been a few days, literall-- _ah_ ,” that tongue again, slithering right over the lace of your panties and --

Suddenly, your phone went off. _Fuck_.

Casting a glance to the side, where it fell on the floor, you saw the caller ID and felt yourself being shaken awake in the span of a few seconds. Aroused or not, this metaphorical cold shower was enough to make you push the monster away and scramble for the device.

Mouthing a _‘work calling’_ to Sans, you ducked out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom.

One had new information, that, or he was calling to tell you that your father had him step down from the case as well. Knowing the male, he probably wouldn’t be deterred by something your dad would say.

“are ya fuckin’ serious?!”

 

* * *

 

 

Asriel watched the clock in his kitchen, counting how many hours were left. His black sclera wide and red iris slit as he glanced back down at his phone. It was two minutes behind. That would need to be fixed.

Diligently, he stood from his table and reached up, grabbing the offending timepiece and changing the two limbs accordingly.

Better.

Everything was clean, neatly placed, just in case she wanted to come to his home. He even brushed his fur to absolute perfection, groomed himself just for her, to look presentable and attractive to her eyes.

Was she going to be impressed with his choice in a vehicle? He really hoped so. Twiddling his clawed thumbs, the goat monster surveyed his home once more. More nervous than usually, he settled with sitting on the love-seat of his living room, turning on the TV to watch the news.

Yesterday, he had been approached by a strange monster, one that spoke of greatness and promised him a kingly future. The problem was that they seemed to know exactly who he was, despite him denying everything and trying to get away.

_‘The humans imprisoned our kind, they are imprisoning us even now, don’t you see? look what they did to your father,_

Were they? Moreso, could anyone blame them, especially after the horrors that they have done? A little part of him, usually quiet and shunned, jumped in excitement at the proposition and it was that little devilish voice that whispered into his mind ‘--but wouldn’t it be grand to be a king? To make her your queen, wouldn’t she like the luxuries you could offer her? Wouldn’t it be addicting to have the humans bow down to you, like they are supposed to?’

Afraid, he shot that monster down.

Why did he even think that? He wasn’t his father, he wasn’t...mad with power.

_‘But doesn’t power sound like something she would be attracted to?’_

Like any other female, monster or not, he was sure that was the case, but was it worth it? Wouldn’t she see that as an attack to her kind? Surely she wouldn’t love him as much if he did all of that. _Haha_ , oh golly, he was already thinking of love much too often.

They weren’t at that stage yet.

He flipped through the channels, absentmindedly tracing the heart shaped pattern on his bare chest. Stars, it’s been far too long since he’s seen her last, he didn’t think it was possible to miss someone as much. Heavy horns tipped back as he leaned his head over the cushion of his small couch.

...

The next day came faster than he anticipated.

He dressed nicely, but not too nicely, he didn’t want her to think he was over-doing it.

The car he bought was shiny, freshly washed, waiting behind him as he patiently _waited_ , consequently, for _her_. Frederica came a second later, out of the corner shop she told him to wait her by, with her hands full of groceries. At seeing him and his car, she paused, something fleeting passing through her eyes, before her lips broke into a smile and she hurried her steps towards him.

Stars, she was so beautiful. Even with that big puffy jacket on and the goofy beanie and scarf. 

He shyly smiled back, careful of bearing his sharp canines to her, and waved. The small bouquet of tulips was promptly handed to her and her brown eyes shone brightly.

“Thanks, AZ!”

Realizing he only made her situation worse by handing her the flowers, he fumbled with taking her grocery bags from her grasp, which she seemed thankful for. “S-Sorry…” he mumbled, walking to the back of the car and opening the trunk to safely deposit the bags.

She bounced next to him, admiring his new acquisition. “I didn’t think you would actually buy a car,” she stated, looking up at him and cradling the bouquet in her arms. He was absolutely smitten with how lovely she looked like this. Without noticing, he purred, eyes half-lidded on this breathtaking sight he was fortunate to witness.

“AZ?”

He snapped out of it, feeling quite hot suddenly. A clawed finger came to pull at the collar of his black turtleneck. “Y-yeah, sorry, I-I decided that it was a good idea. It’s very efficient,” he stuttered, hoping it was a satisfactory answer. Besides, he had too much gold stashed away, he thought it would be best to put it to use.

She smiled again and he felt dizzy, slamming the trunk shut with too much force and startling her.

“S-shall we?” he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, making his way around the car to the passenger’s door, opening it for her. Nodding, smile gone, Frederica walked next to him and climbed inside. He fumbled after her, with the seat belt, trying to put it around her and secure it. “I can do that! Don’t worry,” her hand came up to cover his and he lurched back like an idiot at the contact.

“O-okay!”

The first thing he did when he was freed from the rehabilitation center, was to learn how to drive and take said exams. He diligently studied and passed with flying colors, but when it came down to buying such a vehicle, he felt a bit safer with riding the bus, putting this aside. He did have a driver’s license just in case, a step into integrating within their societal rules.

It felt satisfying.

Now? Now he felt very nervous, even if he knew he was a good, responsible, driver.

With shaking hands, he secured his own seat belt, checked the mirrors and --”AZ, are you alright? You seem a bit sick?”

“I-I’m okay!” he flicked his eyes to her, brows knitted together. Oh stars, she looked so right by his side like this. Gulping down his nerves and anxiety, the goat monster turned on the engine and settled his clawed hands on the wheel. “I-I actually want to show you this r-really nice place,” he started, turning his gaze forward again “I think you’ll like it very much,” as he said that, the car began moving.

“Oh? An adventure? Color me impressed,”

...

  
Turns out the really nice place he wanted to show you was an abandoned little park, with a carousel and swings strewn about. It was on monster territory, somewhat towards the slums. The wig was making your neck itch.

“L-let me just…” he mumbled, marching forward to the carousel and its aged horses. The paint on them looked like they had once been very beautiful, but time corroded their past selves into rotten decay. Not that they looked bad, just messy.

The swings set, the slide not far from them, the cotton candy stand and the fun-time train tracks were all there, in the same condition. Honestly, it looked like someone tried to make a very small, very isolated little theme park.

And it worked, because it had a nice cozy feeling to it, intimate even.

“Ah, there we go!”

At the sound of his voice and whirring of mechanisms, you snapped your gaze over to where he sat kneeling by the carousel’s side, a few wires in his hands. The engine came to life and the lights turned on, the machine beginning to move with a few groans from the rust of time.

Your eyes widened as you watched the big old thing resume a cycle it had been paused from for what looked like years. A song started playing, old and scratchy, but undeniably familiar to your ears.

_“Ava, do you like your cotton candy?” a voice so soothing and gentle asked. Looking up at the source, your eyes fell over long blonde hair in elegant ringlets and honey brown eyes, warm and loving._

_“Yep!”_

_It was not often you could get out of the family house, not often you could sneak away to do these things. Your mother grinned and crouched down to your level, wiping away some of the stickiness around your mouth. “I’m glad,”_

_But something about her expression seemed sad._

_This was your first time at a theme park, where you rode the carousel. Strangely, you couldn’t recall your other parent being present. As if on cue "Where have you been, Sofie?” your father’s voice boomed, from the top of the mansion’s stairs. His icy cold eyes landed on you, sitting there with what was left of your cotton candy mid-air._

_Your mother shot up and stepped in front of you, protectively blocking you from his view. “We were out, having fun at the theme park,”_

_“I told you not to do that!” he roared, climbing down the stairs with feigned calm. “She’s my daughter, you don’t control what me and my child do!”_

_“Sofie, don’t make this harder than it is. I will take full custody of her, don’t force my hand,”_

_“She’s just a child! Let her be a child! I...I understand that this is your family’s tradition, but this is not mine, I won’t allow her to go through what you did with your father!”_

_“....”_

_“Ezekiel, my mother hasn’t even seen her own grand daughter, you just isolated her in this damned house, she’s not some tool, she’s not your student, she’s your daughter!”_

_“That’s enough! I promise you, this is the last strike. You keep fighting me on this and I will make sure you never see her again. I’ve been more than tolerating,”_

_“Ezekiel!”_

Oh. The song from the carousel back then, your first carousel ride. How ironic that you would remember her now. She did fight with him a lot, until the day she just vanished.

“Frederica?”

Hm? Who was Frederica?

….

Right. _You_ were Frederica. “Yeah! It looks really nice!” you exclaimed, moving towards him and letting your wintery gaze slide over the bouncing horses. A smile spread over his snout and he offered you a hand “C’mon!”

You reached out without reluctance and grasped his warm claws.

The rest of the time was spent riding the carousel, you on a white horse, or what remained of the white paint covering it and AZ on a dragon shaped thing. After you were done being childish, you went to the swings and then the slide, deciding that maybe letting go of the pent up anxiety and anger would do you some good.

You two laughed and spoke about everything and anything, ending the night by sitting down on one of the rusty benches.

AZ went back to the car to get some sandwiches he prepared and now you let the silence consume you while you ate.

It was a nice day.

But you knew the problems would engulf you again once you returned home. To be truthful, you wanted to meet the goat monster today to put an end to...whatever this was, but when you saw how earnestly he prepared this ‘date’ and how much he did for you, well, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

Maybe you were selfish.

Too selfish.

There was another monster waiting for you at home. Along with a big ass stack of folders and case materials that you wanted to work on. AZ stiffened next to you, the taut muscles beneath his tight turtleneck shirt making you glance at him. His long ears that laid flat over his shoulders, twitched, his nose wrinkled and eyes narrowed. For just a split second, his razor sharp teeth bared in what felt like warning, but then the hostile expression was gone.

“AZ, are you okay?”

He bristled, turning to you, slitted crimson pupils trained on your face. “Y-yeah! I’m alright, thought I felt something, but it’s just my imagination I’m sure,” he chuckled nervously.

What did he feel? Your hunter half wished to ask, but Frederica wasn’t the type to do that, so you remained quiet, quiet as a mouse.

“I think we should go, it’s getting late and I have work early in the morning,” you suggested after a long pause. When he looked at you again, something dark pressed behind those haunting eyes, yet he did nothing but nod his approval.

Good.

...

The ride home was dead silent. You told him to leave you at the corner of a street, three blocks away from your actual apartment building. He offered to help you with the groceries to your flat, but you politely refused, letting him know you had some very nasty neighbors.

His flowers were placed into one of the grocery bags and you were gone, after giving him a peck on his cheek, of course. You didn’t need him getting suspicious.

As soon as you stepped inside the apartment, however, an angry skeleton blocked your way forward.

“so ya ditch me to go with some other fuckin’ monster?! do ya even know who ya screwin’ around with?”

“Did you follow me?” you asked simply, arching an eyebrow. After you had your conversation with One regarding your next move in the case of the untagged monster, you had worked on the side cases, ignoring Sans’ incessant whining and ended up falling asleep on the couch for the rest of the night.

And also ended up sleeping in the next morning without meaning to, with the skeleton draped over you like a bony, uncomfortable blanket. You almost forgot you had to meet AZ, until your notification alarm went off and you had to shove the bonehead off so you could look at your phone.

Needless to say, you were running around your house, tripping over your high heeled boots and barely managing to put on your wig properly.

He only woke up when you darted out the door, so you couldn’t blame him for being his usual paranoid self, especially when he caught the glimpse of your disguise on. But still, it didn’t make it okay that he followed you to your assignment. Was this what AZ felt? Another monster prodding about?

“...does it matter?!”

“Yes, because this can go ass up really fast if you fuck up my assignment,” you snap at him, shoving your groceries into his arms with a pointed glare.

“jus’ a fuckin’ assignment, huh? ya looked pretty cozy there with his fuckin’ majesty,” he growled out, making to turn away.

What? _Majesty_?

“What did you just say?”

He glanced back at you, bone brows drawn together and eye lights dimmed. “wha’?”

“Majesty? Wait, why did you ask if I knew…” you air quoted the next part “who I was ‘screwing around with’?”

He started sweating bullets right under your eyes. 

Of course. He had this stupid face when you mentioned AZ before. Like he remembered something, but ended up denying he did when questioned.

Now, again. That constipated look of guilt.

“Sans, who is AZ? And you better not lie to me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave feedback, kudos and bookmark if you liked it!  
> love you guys so so much <3


	10. i'll take you to the moon and back, back seat of my cadillac

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the update i promised!  
> while this one is shorter, i think it has enough in it to make it worth it  
> hope you guys will enjoy this twist *wink*
> 
> song to go with this : Jynjo - How do you Like it (feat. Spritely)

“So, you’re telling me he’s the real deal. The actual...Asriel?”

Sans bristled like a cat, eye-lights into thin red lines, dimmed, while he suddenly found his flip-phone much more intriguing than the angry-looking Two standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. Those...nice, wide, sexy hips.

He glanced to the side as his thumb tapped on the buttons.

“I’m talking to you!”

Clearly, she was in distress. Maybe if he had told her this sooner, she wouldn’t have gone out with that fucking abomination. Inevitably, his gaze fell on the message icon. It had 70 unread messages.

Shit.

“Sans!”

His head snapped up. Oh, she was furious. “...yea?”

That was Papyrus, for sure, trying to contact him. Panicking, he realized he hadn’t checked his phone since Two filled his mind, so that had to be almost a week? Maybe more? He didn’t keep track of the time. Certainly, his younger brother was livid.

“You aren’t paying any attention!”

And she was becoming nagging and annoying, he heard a whisper in the back of his mind. Brow bones came together into a frown. “already told ya what ya needed’ta know, can ya get off my back?”

The anger from her features fell into a completely blank poker face.

He hated when she did that. Even her SOUL pulsed calmly and quietly with her mood change, a complete change from the agitated flare its been blinding him with a moment ago.

These were the moments when he couldn’t read her.

“gotta bounce, c’ya,”

“Wha--” but he was already traversing the void. She was a smart cookie, she could figure things out herself. The empty white buzzed around him and there was something amiss. He had noticed it before, while teleporting, but now, recently, it became more obvious.

It bugged him.

Perhaps it was only his imagination. This place was always tricky, bleeding out static, echoing silence, swallowing one fully if they weren’t careful.

He left it alone, however. The void scared him.

Using it as a means of transport was safe, but staying too long inside it could be fatal, even for a monster of his intellect.

Coming out on the other side, he stepped out into his room. Honestly, he hated sticking around when she was in that kind of emotional state, lacking any emotion, he meant by that --moreso, she made him think of his brother, the one that was lost to the void.

And he didn’t appreciate that. Lately, it seemed the past was catching up. Past mistakes, that is.

While Sans’ magic facilitated his relationship with the void, his brother, the former royal scientist, as his kind labeled him, didn’t have that ability. He tried to...take from Sans’ magic, tried to make it his own, tested and played with things he shouldn’t have mingled with.

The void, it was relentless. Karma, it caught up with him and he was lost forever in the void.

Looking for him was futile, Sans knew. The void was endless. It had no beginning and no end, it was nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Not like he wanted to go look for him either --not when he had Papyrus to look after, especially not after what he had put them through.

Mania had been his demise.

Tonight he would sleep in his own bed, his mind was clouded with thoughts he didn’t want to give any attention to. For some reason, she had a way of making them resurface. Slowly and quietly, he opened the door of his room to check the rest of the house. The hallway was dark, which meant his brother had already gone to sleep.

That was good.

He retreated back into the stale smelling bedroom. Much like the layout of the one in Snowdin, this one was also inhabited by a mattress, with some covers and some pillows strewn about, a sock tornado in a corner and a treadmill smack in the middle of it, covered by dirty clothes. The new additions were the desk in the opposite corner, a lamp and some of Doomfanger’s food next to it. He had multiple books stashed by the mattress, most of which were quantum physics, joke books and advanced robotics studies.

With a tired sigh, he plopped down on his make-shift bed. He didn’t like being questioned and prodded in the way she started doing lately. That’s what he wanted from her, especially after that moment they shared. Finally, she was letting her SOUL loose, finally, she was accepting him without rising walls and blocking their connection off.

“BROTHER?”

Well, he spoke too soon. Cringing, the skeleton almost decided not to answer. “yea?”

There was a pause. “MAY I KNOW WHY YOU HAVE NOT BEEN ANSWERING MY CALLS AND MESSAGES FOR THIS WHOLE WEEK?” while he asked if he may, Sans felt the irony and irritation seeping through the cracks in the tone. He wasn’t asking for permission, he was demanding an answer.

“sorry, boss, been at grillby’s. lost track of time an’ all,” he gave a half-assed excuse.

“DO YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT I, THE GREAT TERRIFYING PAPYRUS, WILL GIVE ANY CREDENCE TO YOUR WITLESS PRETEXT?”

Right.

“fine. i’ve been with the bunny girl,”

Another long pause followed suit behind his door, then the clearing of a throat. “THAT, I CAN BELIEVE,”

Good. Now hopefully he would go away for now and let him --”IS IT A SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP, SANS?”

 _What?_ His gaze snapped up at his door with shrunk eye-lights and jaw opened. His mind blanked, before it quickly settled on Two’s face. “uhh...yea?”

“IS SHE ALSO AWARE OF YOUR ROMANTIC INTENTIONS, THOUGH? I KNOW YOU ARE A CRETIN WHEN IT IS REQUIRED FOR YOU TO --” “boss! she knows a’ight? Jus’ leave it!” because he was growing increasingly flustered by this uncharacteristic conversation he was having with his brother. This was actually the first civil, brotherly, conversation he’d had with Papyrus since he grew up.

“DO NOT INTERRUPT ME, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING MORON, WHEN I AM ATTEMPTING --” but this time, he stopped himself. There was a grunt “NEVER IGNORE MY CALLINGS AND MESSAGES AGAIN, UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO TURN YOU INTO DUST!” and the footfalls grew distant.

Sans remained dumbfounded. He could swear Papyrus would have been asleep, what with all the lights off. Had he waited for him by any chance? His brother had a very twisted way of showing he cared, but he’d take this instead of nothing. At a loss for what to do or say, he simply chose to lay down on the mattress.

Without Two, tonight’s sleep would be laced with nightmares from past timelines, but especially with the memory of her falling to her knees.

He closed his eyes, despite that.

 

* * *

 

 

When he blipped out of existence, you were left speechless, staring at the spot he’d been standing into moments before.

Oh, he did not just --

Your face heated up with the rage that you felt coursing through your veins. He came all pissy at you, blurted something out, attempted to lie, ended up revealing a piece of vital information to you and the moment you started to ask questions, he just poofed out. Like all men. Typical.

It didn’t make you any less angry.

Furthermore, you opened up to him intimately and this was what you were getting? Well fuck him! He’d hear what you had to say regardless, even if it was tomorrow or a week after.

An hour later, you were soaking into your bathtub with a resting bitch face on. Still fuming at how dismissive he’d been as soon as you caught him in his lie. At that, you pointedly yanked the glass of rose from the ledge of the tub and chugged down the wine.

The prospect of spending the night alone again made you bristle.

But you’ve been alone for countless nights, why was it harder now that he made a habit of sneaking under your covers? Well, it was his ability to banish your nightmares.

Last time you slept alone, they crept up on you at several ungodly hours of the night.

You tried to convince yourself that the wine would help. Then you started thinking about Asriel, the actual prince, having had driven your around, given you flowers and being your...ugh, childishly put, boyfriend.

If things couldn’t get more complicated. Placing the glass down and picking up your phone, you sunk deeper into the water.

Tomorrow was Ally’s birthday too. It was marked in your calendar, but...you were terrified of, well, seeing her. There were times when you would promise yourself you would show up at her school one day, surprise her, but then you would end up back tracking, what if it triggered you in ways that could damage your psyche more than it already was? It was true that the effects lessened with time, but you couldn’t help the shiver of anxiety and panic rising into your throat.

Your eyes slowly fell over the last message One had sent you, probably while you were on this ‘date’. Early in the day, you didn’t have time to check your email, as he supposedly sent you something on it. At least you knew you still had your partner when all of this was going to hit the fan. Now with your father probably keeping an eye on your activity within the organization, you had to be extra careful with your next moves.

You got out of the lukewarm water a few minutes after. All of these small pesky things gathering up in your mind were going to be the death of you. Quickly, your wrapped your scarred body into a large and long towel, not keen on seeing any part of yourself exposed.

Mentally drained and overwhelmed, you strode to your bedroom and applied all the necessary toiletries, then the baggy, fully covering sleeping clothes.

Maybe you could send Ally the usual bouquet of flowers that you sent every year, anonymously of course.

In the morning you could check what One had sent you. Ugh, you hated when you were scatter-brained like this. You needed to stop and arrange things in order, prioritize. Clearly, the murdering fucker was top shelf, then came the Asriel issues, Ally and finally, Sans. After these could be dealt with, you could take a moment to look at your personal issues as well, it was simply selfish to put yourself first right now.

Worming your way under the covers after turning off the lights, you indulged yourself in the company of your phone and some news site you read regularly. If you were exhausted enough you could probably have a dreamless sleep. Sometimes you were lucky like that, which is why you often overworked yourself to that point. It didn’t happen as often as you would like, but it did happen often enough to notice the pattern and apply it.

Two more hours passed when your eyelids fell heavily and the phone slipped your fingers.

_When you opened your eyes again, you were in that god forsaken throne room again._

_The buttercups rustled and you were sitting down on your knees among them. Something felt different, but when you tried to say something, you realized you had no voice._

_Figures. That’s how dreams worked._

_“Do you want your truth?”_

_The voice. That voice. You glanced behind you, twisting your upper body so that you could see. The child with the golden flower crown. “You will never be like me, but you know that already…” the brown haired kid spoke, their mouth curling into a small smile._

_There was a pulling, a violent yank and your SOUL came out of your chest forcefully._

_You whimpered. What was this?_

_Slowly, they reached up to the flower crown and raised it up from over their eyes, enough to expose them. “I knew….I knew…” they chanted, their eyelashes fluttering and eyelids sliding upwards, revealing crimson eyes._

_“I knew I could believe in you,”_

_Your SOUL looked cracked, as if it had been put together by something else. It pulsed and you lurched back. Their presence wasn’t calming anymore, it was….it felt dangerous, malicious._

_“I knew...I knew...I knew….” they giggled, grasping the crown over their forehead with boths hands “I ̱͕̟͕̙k͕͉̳̩͉̺̫ͮ̐͊̾̀̓ͪnẻ̲̯̟̫͗̿ͯẇ ̉̈́I k̫̏̋ͅn͍̠͑̐ew͙̱̦ ….”_

_Their face was melting off and their fingers ripped the crown apart, yellow petals scattering everywhere. Sclera becoming a pitch black, skin white as snow, their body flickered, like static._

_“Ì͇̺̍ ̞ͥk̙̹̬̖͚̤͚͑ͭ͐́ͪͬ̈́n̳͂ë͇̼̻͍ͯ̋̍̚ͅw̋ͯ͌̿̾ ̞̹̮̺̖̳ͮ̏̾̓̍̚I͓͎̹̣̱̾ͨͯͧ̚ kn͎̝̠̥̉ͯ́ͬ͆ͅe̮̹̍̓w̱͖̝͕͎͔ I͈̤̲͚͊̀ͤͨ ͇̤̞̰̪ͩ̐ͫ͆̒k̘̰̦̐̎̓̇ͅne̙̰̝͙̾̓̂͗͋ͅw͙ ̬͛I͕͎̯͓̹̪ͯͧ͒ͣͩ̈͂ͅ ͕͖̹͎͖̺knͮe̠ͣw ̗̯͍̠̬ͩ̏͐ͫ̏I ͚̜̩͕̦͍̓ͤ̾ͬ̄ͫk͈̤̊ͯn̘̼̯̯͕͂ͭ̄̔ͣͫͅeŵ̞̜͙̹̩̟̌̅̀̈̐… ̞ͥk̙̹̬̖͚̤͚͑ͭ͐́ͪͬ̈́n̳͂ë͇̼̻͍ͯ̋̍̚ͅw̋ͯ͌̿̾ ̞̹̮̺̖̳ͮ̏̾̓̍̚I͓͎̹̣̱̾ͨͯͧ̚ kn͎̝̠̥̉ͯ́ͬ͆ͅe̮̹̍̓w̱͖̝͕͎͔ I͈̤̲͚͊̀ͤͨ ͇̤̞̰̪ͩ̐ͫ͆̒k̘̰̦̐̎̓̇ͅne̙̰̝͙̾̓̂͗͋ͅw͙ ̬͛I͕͎̯͓̹̪ͯͧ͒ͣͩ̈͂ͅ ͕͖̹͎͖̺knͮe̠ͣw ̗̯͍̠̬ͩ̏͐ͫ̏I ͚̜̩͕̦͍̓ͤ̾ͬ̄ͫk͈̤̊ͯn̘̼̯̯͕͂ͭ̄̔ͣͫͅeŵ̞̜͙̹̩̟̌̅̀̈̐"_

 

_You were wheezing._

_Before you, stood that fiendish creature, the one you had seen. “Y͇̲͖̅͒̐ou̪͉̟̱̜̬͛͑ͤ͑̀̚ ̗̪̣̪̇̇͐ͩa̘͒w͕̰͖̻̟͔ä͊̚ke̪̞̝̥ne̥̣͔̭ͥͨͦ̊d̠͔̞̣̲ͧ̌ͨ̍͊ m͓͕̘͐ͪ̚e̩̥̱̟̘͚̍͂͗̉̌ͣ”_

_“No, no I didn’t!”_

_You could talk. Your widened eyes snapped up to the goulsih thing and your hand grasped at your throat almost instinctively. Furthermore, you could understand it, even if it didn’t talk._

_Its --no, his head tilted to the side and his empty eyes glanced down at you. Following his gaze, you realized you were bleeding, from that wound you got when you were impaled by Asgore’s damned trident. Your other hand covered the gorey sight and you realized you were trembling violently._

_“Stop it!” you screeched with rising panic. His jagged smile stretched wider._

_You needed to wake up. Fast._

_Squeezing your eyes shut, you tried to focus on your breath, until you felt weightless and you were deceived into thinking it had worked, that the nightmare was over with. However, when you opened your eyes, you were in a completely white place, with the creature, the one who spoke in hands, a few feet away from you, watching you._

_“Ị̩̱͛̈̑ ͕̩̥͈̣̯̃̓̄̀ͬͮ͋ͅhe̱̗̱͎lp̯̙̙̘ͩ͐̉ͣe̱̔d͇̗̲̠̮͔ y͎̫̪̔͗̓ͤͅo̘͍͍̟̮ͧ͆͂̊̄ú͔̘̅̿ͅ.̞̖̝͙͆̀ͮ́̈ͅ.͔̮̤̹͎̼͎̆ͨͥ͂̽ͮ̈.̳̎ḷ̰̙̪́͋̑͐i̊ͅk͛̿ë͚̠͕͎͔͉̺́̋̈́̎ͭ͒̉ ̫̻̰͉̮y̝͓͖̯̦͉̅̂̃́́́o͙͓̞͎̘̲̍̿ͥ͊̇̚u̙͎̞̱ͮ̆̓ͩ ́ͯ̐̓h̜̥̅ͤeͤ͊͑̑͆̚lp͚̣̥̟̤̱̽͊̅̾̌ͨẹd̉̅̈́ mẽ͎͙̪̠̪͆͊̔̚,”_

_You felt as if your SOUL was going to burst._

_What did he do to the child, to the one you saw? Was he the child all this time?_

_“T̲͚h͌̏̄ͨ̐ë̩̤̟̦͙̟̮̓͛̀̀͆͊ ͉̺̱̭̈́̇̓̄c͐̆̎̉̏h͈̥̳̮i̞͙̼̞͎̩͖͐̏̆͐̿ͧ̉l͉͔̑̏d͎͂ ͪͫ͑i̾̄s̥̗̯̯̄̅͊̊ d̦͛ë̟̤̒a̫͑d̞͔̖̼̥̉ͭͫ̊ͤ,”_

_He responded easily, as if he had read your mind and couldn’t believe why you would ask something so foolish. “You killed them?” your SOUL pulsed, rippled with your emotion. The monster stretched and leaned back, like it was offended by what you had said._

_“Sͅä̘̮͉̬̩̔̈ͤ̅n͍̓s͓̬ͪ̊ d͕̝̘͍̞͖ͣ̓ͥ̌͗̂id̤͎̼̔̑͂--” suddenly, a loud ringing noise split through you like a knife._

Your eyes snapped open and you stood up, sweating and panting. Your phone was ringing with your five am alarm that you used during the week. Your heart threatened to barrel out of your chest and you gripped your shoulders with a shattering sob that made your body shiver uncontrollably.

What the fuck was that? Was it real? Were you losing your mind?

A choked cry slipped your mouth and you trembled harder, bunching up your blanket around yourself for a protection you deeply yearned for but couldn’t find.

Needless to say, from that point on, you couldn’t go back to sleep.

You turned on all the lights in your house, paranoid and clearly affected by what had happened in your nightmare, trying to discern reality from dream, trying to understand what it all meant.

Too bad your pride didn’t let you call for the skeleton you needed in this moment.

Coffee was going to be a good enough substitute for now.

And you’d be damned if you’d fall asleep again. What bugged you terribly was how real it felt and _if_ it was, supposing that it wasn't just a figment of your unconscious telling you something you feared would be true, what did that monster mean by ' _Sans did_ '? Sans killed the child? _No._ Enough, no more nonsense!

If you couldn't rest, then you could work. Yes, that would keep your mind busy and you could actually be productive. Sunrise found you on your balcony, wrapped in a blanket, sitting on one of the two chairs adorned in pillows, laptop on your lap. The ashtray and coffee mug were on the ledge, the butt of a new cigarette wasting away in the ceramic plating. 

Sure enough, One had sent you an email. Once you opened it, though, your blood ran cold. 

 _Another body._ Your breath became labored. 

_A block away from the organization's headquarters. A buttercup crown over the eyes of the victim._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please kudos, comment and bookmark if you enjoyed this!  
> keep me motivated with your feedback~ love you guys!


	11. cause the bad's been slowly getting worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo yo yo! an update from yours truly  
> hope you guys will enjoy this one! lots of twists and turns coming up  
> lots of mystery and intrigue, yep~
> 
> song to go with this : grandson - Overdose

The cold body of twenty-year old Benjamin O’Brien lay on the coroner’s table. The autopsy had been done, the specialist sent by the organization was taking a few end notes for their report --and you, well, you were standing there, staring blankly at the flower crown in one of the metal trays on the desk nearby.

Evidence, they had said. The eyes of the victim had been clawed out.

Was it perhaps a message? You felt sick to your stomach.

“This one was different. I thought you would be interested,” One spoke from your left, his face towards the corpse.

“Close, too close,” you whispered in return, glancing with blurry eyes from behind the mask, in the direction of the once-living teenager. There was blood on the yellow crown, there was a threat behind this, a quiet, dangerous beckoning. Clearly, the covered eyes meant ignorance of seeing. Alluding to being blind? Who was blind and to what exactly? What was that monster trying to say?

“We’ve lost too many civilians, in my opinion. I don’t see why the organization doesn’t dust them all off so we can be done with this,” the coroner spoke up acidly from across the table, starting to pack up his things. “It’s clear that these...these things aren’t capable of integrating, they are vile and murderous. I don’t know why we even tried to rehabilitate these crooked husks,”

“Not all of them are like this,” you were quick to hiss at the suited man, having had enough for one morning. In exchange, the specialist paused his fumbling with papers, gave you a frown and shook his head. “Tell that to this kid’s mother when you walk out of here,”

After that, he was out of the room. An eerie silence followed after, heavy and thick, smelling like death, decay and formol.

Your brain felt foggy and you could barely keep focused. Not sleeping was starting to take its toll on you, but most especially after seeing this grotesque display.

“Any cameras?” you swallowed down the nausea as you asked, tried to come up with something.

“None that were actually working at that hour,” One replied flatly, crossing his arms over his chest. “So no footage. I refuse to accept that there was nobody that didn’t see anything or that there’s no evidence that might have been left behind,” you muttered, voice almost cracking. This boy...he was so young, what could he have done to deserve this? He had his whole life ahead of him, hell, he was studying to become a lawyer, was a good student, but something was amiss.

The reason why he was the victim, to be precise.

Sure, the others had been gamblers, drunks, cons, ex-convicts, homeless beggars etc. Benjamin, however, he was the link that didn’t quite fit the chain.

“You read my mind,” your partner mused “Maybe we should go take a look, just to be sure the authorities didn’t miss anything,” he added, turning to face you.

“Are you sure you’re up for that? You know my father--”

“I’m certain. I will chase justice down no matter what, Two. Just because the councilor said no, doesn’t mean I’m not going to follow my instincts, you know that,”

“I do, but….let’s switch off the trackers at least,”

“For once, I will agree with your decision, no matter how stupid it sounds,” he grunted, reaching up to his mask and tapping the underside of his chin. You mimicked his gesture, choosing not to comment on the offending remark. The mask’s visor turned translucent. No more tracking also meant no more recording, therefore, nobody would know what you two were going to do next.

With finality, One pushed the table-drawer back inside the morgue’s shelving freezer unit.

As soon as you two made it outside the section, however, the weeping of a woman at the end of the hallway made you stop in your tracks, even as One continued down the corridor towards the back exit. That had to be the boy’s mother.

Your skin prickled. Fucking hell, you could feel your heart breaking.

“Two,”

One’s voice snapped you out of your guilt-ridden thoughts and back to reality, breaking your daze-like state as well. “Yeah, I’m coming,”

 

* * *

 

This allowed you to distract your mind, from both the nightmare and the boy you just saw an hour ago in the morgue. The fact that you could bring the culprit to justice, it filled you with determination, fuel that would be enough so you could survive through the day.

Currently, you were crouched on the ground, above the spot where the victim had been found. There were splatters of blood, sure enough, from the wounds inflicted upon him. It appeared as if he had been backed into a corner, trying to defend himself. You breathed in as a chill ran down your spine.

Naturally, his SOUL had been taken, as your stats showed once you saw the corpse.

But there was something off. The same feeling that you got from the other killings. In fact, you knew monsters could be vile, the especially violent ones, but this monster, this thing that you saw at the docks, hardly seemed like the type to shred its victims.

Perhaps his followers were doing this in his stead.

No, it couldn’t be. This was a message for you, this was clear as day, it was linked to your battle with Asgore, as if this monster knew what happened, as if he saw everything. It had to do with the child, you and what went down all those years back. 

“I verified the tags that were present in this area. None were here, it had to be our untagged friend,” One retorted from behind you, busily tapping at the device in his hands.

There it was. Something missing, something that escaped your eyes.

_Ding._

Huh? Your phone alerted you of a text message. Frowning behind your mask, you stood up and pulled it out from one of your harness’ pockets. An unknown number.

_‘Knock knock’_

Your face fell. As if you had to guess who this was...and at the most inappropriate moment, as per usual. Rolling your eyes, you quickly typed a reply.

_‘Not in the mood. Bye.’_

Then, you looked around, expertly trying to find the angles and cameras that could have witnessed this whole morbid show. From the report, the bank from across the street’s cameras somehow glitched, so did the camera from the corner store and the one from that luxury clothing store next to it. As if the culprit knew the exact points from which to hide or the cameras that they could somehow disable. Did this monster even have that capability, to do all that? _Magic_ , you concluded in your mind. You suggested this to One before you arrived at the scene beyond the yellow tape.

 _Ding_. One glanced over at you this time --”Is someone trying to contact you?”

Obviously. “Yeah, my side-mission,” you lied through your teeth “Told you he gets clingy,” another lie as you checked the text. _‘You’re supposed to ask who’s there. That how knock knock jokes work.’_

He returned to his task, but you could tell he was irritated.

Bitterly, you decided Sans wasn’t worth it at the moment and, consequently, put your phone on silent. He disappeared on you, so you could retaliate in kind. This kind of childish shit wouldn’t work on you. Not now of all times especially.

“You were right, however,” your partner stated again, raising his head from the device again and looking around the alleyway. “The cameras were mingled with, the system was corrupted at the exact hour of the murder,”

_Hah._

You walked by him and lifted the yellow tape, slithering your way underneath it. There had to be some other way of finding out what happened. Your eyes fell on the bank’s ATM.

What were the chances that the camera on it worked? If it even had one. It looked like an old model.

“Can you check the ATM’s feed?”

“If it has one. I doubt it --” One’s fingers paused in their typing over the tablet-like device he had in his hand. At his sudden silence, you craned your neck to look back at him.

“One?”

“It has a camera, a really old one, outdated. It will take me a while to get the footage,”

A sliver of hope passed through you.

...

  
An hour or so later, you were wearing civilian clothes, drinking coffee at some shitty cafe in the area, with One across from you, still hacking the only manner of knowing how that poor boy met his demise.

Going in as hunters was going to garner attention and the last thing you wanted was for any possible suspects or witnesses to see you two sniffing around. “Stop slurping that thing so loud,” the redhead hissed in your direction, green optics trained on you as his fingers paused on the keyboard of his fancy laptop.

Your immediate response was a dramatic roll of your eyes. “Sorry, _mom_ ,”

He deadpanned at you, before resuming his typing. One was a very skilled hacker, another plus added to his already brilliant mind, incredible guerilla tactics, flawless combat techniques and strategy expertise. No wonder your father always prefered him to you, he was everything you aspired to become when you were younger and more competitive.

You slurped your coffee again, just to annoy him out of spite.

His eyes flicked up to you in an instant. “Don’t make me force that cup down your throat, Two,”

“Careful, One, with that kind of dirty talk you might actually turn me on,” you couldn’t help but sass back at him, slurping again just to make a point.

His face remained emotionless. “Do you actually want me to decrypt this or not?”

The image of that boy with the flower crown over his clawed out eyes made you cease your antics and nod. Yeah, he was right. This wasn't the time to act stupid.

Instead, you decided to distract yourself using your phone.

Where you inevitably saw ten missed calls and twelve unseen messages from the same unknown number, better known as Sans.

 _‘Where are you?’_ \--you noted he was incredibly literate and articulate via texting, a complete antithesis to his usual talking pattern.

_‘Why aren’t you responding?’_

_‘Hello!!!1!1!!!’_

_‘*frowning emoji*’_

_‘=====D’_ \--was he trying to -- _oh_. Your eyes lingered on the next message.

Yep. He was trying to make a penis. You cleared your throat and slid a hand over your forehead. This guy...leave it to him to not get a hint.

_‘Sweetheart? Are you mad at me?’_

_‘What did I do?’_

_‘Sorry for whatever the fuck I did.’_

_‘You better answer your fucking phone *mad face emoji*’_

_10 Missed calls._ Followed by more angry emoji texts. Just as you were going to put your phone away again, a new text showed up at the top of your desktop. _‘Where the fuck are you?’_

Controlling much? Scowling, you stuffed the phone away, utterly done with him. If he was going to act like a fucktard then he was going to get treated like one. Did he honestly think he could pull this shit with you and you would just look away and let him get away with it? Hah. He had another thing coming if he believed this relationship was going to be run like that.

… _.relationship?_ Seriously? Well, you didn’t exactly know how to label this, whatever it was.

God, this was the most inappropriate moment to think about this.

“I’m finished,” your partner muttered. Thank heavens for this. You quickly slid your chair next to his and leaned close to him so you could see the screen of his laptop.

“Ready?” he asked more out of courtesy than anything else. “Yeah, play it,” you replied breathlessly, anxious to find out what was hidden so ingeniously from your eyes.

The footage was bad, blurry and shitty, but you could make out the details. One skipped over most of the day, until he reached the hour of the crime. The boy, Benjamin, was walking down the street, not yet by the alley, but you knew it was him by the clothes he was wearing. A flicker of the footage made you mentally cuss, until two silhouettes came into view, intercepting the victim right in front of the alleyway where he was found.

The oddest thing was that they appeared human in shape. Then again, monsters came in many shapes and sizes. Clearly, the monster that was untagged was not there, however, which was puzzling.

The two bodies seemed to be speaking with the boy, until one of them shoved him into the alley, the other following with a punch that made him fall back and crawl away.

Your eyes widened. They disappeared from sight and into the alleyway, where they more than likely killed him. Your teeth clenched and your hand pressed into a fist under the table.

One was watching with a deep frown on his face.

The two figures came out a few minutes after, faces hidden, all in black. Impossible to detect. Smart. 

You thought this was all and you were ready to say something, when something caught your eye.

From the side, not far from where the two shadows came from, a dark black portal took shape into the literal wall and the untagged monster slithered out of it in all his glory, a clear yellow circle between his hands. His face looked towards the alleyway and his shoulders slumped, a posture of defeat and...sadness? How did you even know he was feeling that? It had to be your imagination.

He trudged forward slowly, into the alleyway, before coming out again, a little speck of light in his hand and the yellow circle, which you realized was the flower crown, no longer in his possession.

Slack-jawed, you watched him vanish into the same pitch black portal he came out of, from the brick wall of the building.

A few more minutes passed.

Then One slid the laptop shut with a clank. “What the _fuck_ did we just watch?” you finally asked, finding your voice.

For once, he didn’t even chide you for your foul mouth. “I...I don’t know…”

And One was never unsure, never wavering, never unknowledgeable.

This alone scared you and made you feel especially agitated, as if you saw something you weren’t supposed to see, as if you knew something you weren’t supposed to know.

“There were no tagged monsters around at that time,” he spoke, his tone taking a quiet quality, like he was telling you a secret. “The only untagged monster was that one...it means…”

“Benjamin wasn’t killed by a monster,” you finished the sentence for him. No, it couldn’t be. Maybe the two persons just beat the boy up and the monster came to finish the job, an easy target. You swallowed the knot forming in your throat --”Maybe...maybe he was still alive and the untagged monster came to, you know, finish it? He was vulnerable, an easy target for him, easy SOUL to take,” your words stumbled and stuttered your doubt.

The message, though. The flower crown. Blindness. What were you blind to?

How could you even say this to One? Confide in him regarding your nightmares. It would mean telling him everything. Fear stuck the truth in your throat, unwilling to let you spill it out to your redheaded partner who just stared like a lost child at his laptop.

As if he didn’t know what to do with this information.

“We can’t go to my father with this...not until we have all the facts,” you started blurting out solutions to problems that had yet to be raised “M-Maybe we can go talk to his mother, find out if he had any enemies, anyone that wanted to hurt him…”

But One was silent.

“.. _.Joel_?” at his real name, the male glanced towards you, as if the word had burned him. “Do you know what this means?” he snarled in a hushed tone at you.“Don’t assume anything yet,” you hissed “We can’t assume anything yet, not until we talk to his mother, not until we look deeper into this,”

His usually clear green eyes looked unfocused, searching. “One, we can’t go to my father about this,” you reached out and cupped his face in both hands, making him lock his gaze with yours “No matter what, we have to see the end of this. Once we know everything, then we go to the higher ups,”

Emeralds darted over your face, before he nodded slowly. Good. “Do you promise me that?”

Another nod.

You let go and placed your elbows on the table, lips pressed together and feeling overwhelmed.

“Tomorrow we will go and talk to the mother,” he spoke after a longer pause during which he gathered his thoughts and took a hold of his composure again. 

“Yeah...yeah, okay,” you agreed, dazedly, running a hand through your hair.

A waitress came over with a cheerful smile on her face, her pretty blonde locks bouncing with her peppy walk. “Would you two like to order anything else?”

Ugh. You needed to sleep. You needed to have a clear mind for this.

 

* * *

 

 

You took the bus back to your apartment building, even though it was only for two stations. Hell, you were so preoccupied, you didn’t even realize how long it took you to reach your door, not until you were pulling your keys out. Spacing out was not something you did often, but….but this, this was so fucked up and so tangled up, you didn’t even know where it began and where it ended.

Your mind was a mess.

A second later, when you kicked off your sneakers, Sans was in your face, much like a day before. “where the fuck were ya? ya couldn’t even leave a fuckin’ note?”

Staring blankly at him, you decided you wouldn’t play into this and side-stepped him.

“i’m talkin’ to ya. don’t ya fuckin’ ignore me, sweetheart!” his tone was tip-toeing a warning line, but you ignored that as well and sat down on your couch, frightfully calm despite the storm raging in your chest and head.

He was blocking your view of the TV, which was turned on the news. “ya better --”

The look you shot him made his jaw clank shut and his red pin-pricks to dim and dilate. They were bloodshot, tired, glossed over and defeated, scared. His whole tense posture melted in a second and he knelt in front of you, gently cupping your face between his metacarpals and peering at you as if he was searching for something, an explanation for your state.

“sweetheart?”

“Can we please sleep?” your voice was hoarse and crackling, on the verge of something, something you didn’t want to know or feel. There was a pang in your chest and he cringed, as if he felt it as well.

“yeah….yea...le’s sleep it off…”

In a matter of minutes, you were laid out on the couch, between Sans’ legs, your head on his bony uncomfortable chest and legs curled up. His phalanges scratched at your scalp and the background noise of the TV lulled you to sleep, bit by bit.

His thrumming magic, a lot like a heartbeat, made your muscles relax and your eyelids to flutter shut. When you would wake up, you would be able to handle everything this miserable world threw at you, but for now, you just wanted to surrender yourself to a deep dreamless slumber.

Bones kneading your shoulders, Sans allowed you this luxury.

“s’okay sweetheart, i gotcha...i gotcha…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you liked this, please comment, kudos and bookmark~  
> love you guys so much! <3


	12. woke up on the wrong side of reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey friends~ welcome to another update  
> this one is a bit longer, hope you'll enjoy it!   
> thank you all for the amazing feedback on the last chapter  
> more mystery and shit to come up soon from yours truly
> 
> song to go with this : Portugal. The Man - "Feel It Still"

“ya should’ve texted me back, y’know?”

After sleeping through the rest of the day and night, to the early hours of the next morning, you still felt exhaustion heavy in your bones. That, or it was simply the overwhelming abundance of thoughts that had assaulted you as soon as you stirred awake.

Surprisingly, Sans remained unmoved on the couch, catering to your desperate need for rest and kneading your back and neck with his phalanges. You knew at some point he fell asleep as well, you did open your eyes at midnight and he was snoring underneath you, but now he was as lucid and clear as you were.

“No. You acted like an asshole when you left,” you retorted softly, shifting your legs so you could stretch out your muscles.

“das cause i don’t like bein’ interrogated. i ain’t owin’ ya anythin’...”

Is this how he felt? Like he owed you something just because he shared some information with you. “Wasn’t I supposed to know as well who I was babysitting?” this time, your tone had a biting quality to it.

“ya could’ve figured that on ya own,”

True. “If it comes down to my well being and safety, shouldn’t you tell me about something that could potentially affect me?” your head raised from under his jaw and your wintery gaze easily slipped over the eye lights in his black sockets.

They stuttered and glanced away. “yea...but i hate bein’...ya jus’ shut down...or yell at me, question me like i’m some kinda fuckin’ criminal ya have ta interrogate…” he groaned, stopping himself, you could see the pause in his speech and the way he was trying to put words together.

“les’ put down some ground rules,”

Oh? You cocked an eyebrow at him, daringly. Was he serious? Ground rules for this relationship already? No. Not a relationship, you mentally chided yourself. “And what would you suggest this ground rules should be?” another veiled threat masked in sharp inflations.

“we don’ talk ‘bout work when we’re together, ya don’t ask me shit an’ i don’t pry into yours,” he shrugged, simply, finally meeting your eyes with a hint of hesitance.

“It’s not like I could tell you confidential things from my cases,”

“an’ i ain’t askin’ ya to,”

“I wouldn’t even if you did,”

He rolled his eyes. Enough of this. You pushed off of him and sat back on the other side of the couch, a frown etched onto your face.

“now ya jus’ bein’ childish,”

“Excuse you?”

“an’ sassy,” he sat up as well, grinning wickedly at you. You bristled. No, you were being annoyed by his proposition. You had to know these things, couldn’t he understand? Who knows how much else he knew and he didn’t tell you. Maybe he was even part of that radical monster group led by _him_. Was he tagged like the rest of them or did he find a way to fall off the grid? You had to know these things, because, in the end, you realized, you knew nothing about him.

At that, you pressed your lips together and crossed your arms over your chest.

“aw, don’ look at me like that,”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me? Because I’m starting to think you’re re-considering having me alive and well over here. Clearly, this is a problem. Too bad you didn’t finish the job when you came at me the first time, huh?” inwardly, you cringed, because you realized you were being a bitch right now. Yeah, he was pissed off, because you were an inconsiderate jerk that practically abandoned him when he needed you most. Couldn’t have been easy when they were all rounded up and tagged like cattle. Hell, you couldn’t even imagine the shit he went through to even be able to walk these streets freely.

But he was at fault as well. You couldn’t just put yourself in his shoes when you didn’t even _know_ his shoes, rhetorically speaking. He never shared anything with you, unless it came to his dick.

So, what were you two exactly? Was this a ‘missed-you fuck’ phase that would pass away? “It’s not even just about Asriel, or my mission, it’s about everything,” you added after that revelatory pause “You don’t share anything with me and I have to just go in blindly. You know more about me than I do, but I don’t know shit about you,”

His brow bones knitted together and his jaw jutted out a bit, grounding his razor sharp teeth together. He looked positively annoyed.

“What even are we, Sans?”

At this, his red pin-pricks flicked over you, like he just understood the meaning behind your distress --which was probably true. “s’that what all of this’s ‘bout?”

What?

Why was he saying that as if you were acting all crazy and he was perfectly reasonable?

You deadpanned. Face falling into a neutral expression, before you stood up from the couch and left the living room with a dumbfounded skeleton behind.

“there ya go again!” he roared after you, but you just ignored it because the bag of dicks deserved it. Once you reached the kitchen, he was there, seething and glaring at you, from the other side of your island.

“ya provin’ me right, y’know? shuttin’ yaself off like that,”

At least he wasn’t completely oblivious to _that_. The sun was starting to rise, the first rays spilling into your kitchen’s tile...where there were a pair of yellow socks.

Staring at the offending things, you didn’t even notice Sans vanishing, not until he appeared right into your face, causing you to inhale sharply and lose balance. As if expecting that, he quickly grasped your hips, pulled you upwards and sat you up on the island with him between your legs.

“i hate when ya do that shit,”

Unbelievingly, you glared at him and then back at the socks. “What is it with you and socks?”

He growled, narrowing his eye sockets at your attempt to change the subject completely. His arms came up to rest on the counter, trapping you on both sides as he leaned in closer.

“Stop it!” you shoved at his ribcage, futilely, alas. His grin twitched upwards in a mean expression, all signs of annoyance gone. “das why we need ground rules, see?”

“Why should I even comply with this? We’re not --” you paused, realizing what you were about to say. Sans caught on faster than you could recover. “a couple? sweetheart, ya know we’re more than jus’ that,”

And with those simple words, he managed to wash away all the problems. “That’s funny, you never tell me anything --”

“yea yea, whatever. das ‘cause ya never ask, means it don’t matter, so why bother?”

It was that easy with him wasn’t it? “But you just said --” again, he interrupted you by leaning impossibly close, grasping your thighs and nuzzling his nose cavity into your messy hair. “said ‘work’ stuff. ya can ask me ‘bout myself,”

Right. “What is your favorite color?”

He stopped mid-trying to graze his teeth over your neck leaned back so he could look at your face, incredulously. “really?”

You flushed red.

“blue,” he replied simply, quirking a brow bone at seeing your face so serious and determined. “And how old are you?”

“sweetheart…” he whined, rolling his head back with a sigh “older than ya, das for sure,”

“But _how_ old?”

“a hundred years? i dunno, stopped countin’ after the first fifty,”

“I’m with an old crinkly man….fucking hell….how the mighty have fallen,” at your words, he recoiled and offendedly glared “i ain’t old for a monster ya know?”

“Does this work like dog years or something? Because if you’re a hundred years old that still means one hundred years old for me,”

“monsters live much longer, if das the question,”

God, he looked so bothered by this. You couldn’t help the snickers that left you in breathy laughs and snorts. Suddenly, the world’s problems seemed far away and this corner of safe haven was yours to enjoy, in the light of the rising sun, in your boring kitchen, within this jerk’s embrace.

“You’re so offended!” you giggled, covering your mouth with both hands in an attempt to muffle the embarrassing sounds you were making.

His face completely melted into a soft loving expression. Phalanges grasped your hands and pried them away from your lips, before cold bone pecked them feverishly. The laughter died in your throat and your eyes fluttered shut at his attentions, extending from your mouth to your jaw and neck.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

Oh, your heart was racing under his tentative touches. Until he was clumsily unbuttoning your pants while your tongues rolled together. Despite having been exposed to him before, it never happened in the clear light of day, something that snapped you out of the daze he was slowly dragging you under.

“Wait,” your hand shot out and grasped the helm of your pants right as he was about to slip them over your upper thighs.

The scars weren’t visible in the dark of your room a few days back, but now, they would be impossible to miss, despite having healed with time. God, you were so flustered and pathetic. It wasn’t as if you didn’t have scars before, which you prided yourself in, because they were earned through hard work and battles.

These ones, however, they were your shame, you gained them because you were weak and broken. Someone, in this life, managed to break you in ways you didn’t know were possible. Seeing them, letting someone else see them, your lover….it….it made you feel ashamed, vulnerable and weak.

Noting the change in mood, Sans leaned back to look you in the eyes, which you avoided.

“sweetheart? what’s wrong?”

He tugged at the helm again, only for you to hold it in place with a steel-like grip. “Can’t we just...keep our clothes on?”

“are ya serious?”

“Yes?” you still refused to let go of the waistband.

...

  
What was wrong with her? Never before was she bothered by showing skin or being butt-naked around him, not even when they were supposedly enemies. His brows knitted together in confusion, red pin-pricks moving from her white knuckled hand on her leggings to her turned away face.

Her ears were red and her SOUL shimmered in an odd way.

Shame. It slithered through him like an echo of her own emotions --but ashamed of what exactly? He’d seen all of her before, so what could possibly make her behave like that?

He tugged again, harder. “c’mon sweetheart, you’re actin’ crazy,”

And he just wanted to fuck.

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t budge. “I’m not in the mood anymore,” came her sudden rejection, at which he recoiled further with an exasperated groan. “seriously? s’not like i haven’t seen ya naked before!” he countered, clearly annoyed.

Her frozen pools of ice were on him a second later, bitter, sharp and cold.

“I need to get to work,” she hissed, yanking her pants upwards as she slid off the counter, pushing him away with the motion. Work? At 6 am? How stupid did she think he was? Quickly, with jerking movements, she got her buttons done and all dressed up again, shoving past him and towards her bedroom.

He was absolutely bewildered with the sudden shift of her moods.

“ya don’t even have work this early!”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t have stuff to do!” she slammed her door and he was left to stare in the distance like a dumbass.

Needless to say, his boner died with her departure.

Frustrated and irritated, he spent the rest of the morning alone in front of the TV. Not even rubbing one out could save the atmosphere change and even when he pressed his skull to her door, there were no sounds that could tell him what she was doing.

Fucking stars, she was making this so much more complicated than it was.

And he wasn’t about to start figuring shit out.

So, he did what any reasonable monster would do in this situation. He popped in by Grillby’s for a takeaway meal of burgers and fries, before he blipped back into her home.

Strangely enough, the feeling from the void intensified, yet he forced himself to pay it no mind, he was a man on a mission. Bringing both paper bags with him, along with his dirty shoes all over her carpet, the skeleton rapped his knuckles on her door, in an attempt to placate the demon that had taken over his sweetheart.

“heya...got us somethin’ to eat,”

Nothing.

Well, he could teleport inside her room, but last time he did that, she was clearly unhappy. And he hated seeing her unhappy. “s’ junk food an’ all. burgs an’ fries --” there were footsteps, then her door opened a smidge, to where he could see her pissed off face.

“You went and bought me fast food? Really?”

His eye lights shifted from one side to the other, before settling on her in confusion. “yea?” he raised the two brown paper bags, brow bones coming together as if it was obvious what his intention was. Rolling her eyes, she reached out and snatched one bag, retreating back in her bedroom and shutting the door in his face.

So that meant no fucking.

He bonked his head on the wooden surface with a whine. “aw c’mon sweetheart, don’ be like that,”

No response came.

Thinking that was that, he dragged his ass back in the living room and plopped down on the couch with a grunt. His phalanges expertly rolled the paper bag open and grasped at the soft burger, however, the sound of an opening door made him pause mid-bite.

The huntress sauntered past him, on one of the armchairs across from him, sat down and opened her own bag. "Of all places, it had to be Grillby's," she commented snarkily. 

After a while of staring, his grin broadened with satisfaction. Whatever he did wrong was forgiven. They ate in silence, with the exception of the news playing in the background and Sans’ occasional slurping and chewing sounds.

Even if there was no bj being seen in the horizon, he was content with just her eating across from him. Seeing her SOUL at ease again calmed his as well.

Before they knew it, the clock struck ten and she was hurrying to get in the shower, adamantly refusing him joining her, and dressing up in her hunter shit. At least this meant she wasn’t going to meet that abomination.

Without her mask on, just a trench coat to cover her attire, she bid him goodbye. “--And pick up your damned socks from my kitchen floor,” it was added. Heh. As if.

But the house felt cold and empty without her.

Crumpling both paper bags in his hands and cleaning up the living room to a decent percent that made it seem livable, he disappeared into the void.

Stark white nothingness greeted him like an old familiar home.

Something was missing. Something was not where it was supposed to be and the void seemed restless at the loss.

It unfurled and curled around him like a tightening coil. His eye flared and he pushed it aside, knowing how it could swallow one whole if they weren’t careful. “what’re ya tryin’ to tell me, huh?” he mumbled out, his echo carrying out like an endless maze of mirrors, until it returned from behind like a whisper.

Time was relative here. One eternity could be one second. The laws of physics didn’t work, unless you wanted them to work.

At that, he walked deeper inside, discovering he was upside down. But was that really like that? In a second, it was normal again, there was no up or down here --unless you had the power to will that.

Growling deep into his throat, his dirty sneakers padded on a nonexistent surface, taking him further, until suddenly, from one side, a grey door took shape out of nothing. He frowned deeply, not understanding how this was even possible.

Trying to open it, he quickly discovered it was locked, impossible to pry aside. Even circling around it, proved futile, both sides looked the same. Attempting a teleportation inside whatever this veiled pocket in the void was could scatter him through time and space.

_...scattering through time and space._

His mind reeled back to his sibling again, the obsession with using DETERMINATION to access the powers of the void and destroy the barrier having been his undoing. It was this event alone that had turned Sans into an anxious mess half the time, paying more than the necessary attention to everything he was doing, despite his ‘reckless’ attitude he liked to show off. Little did they all know how every step he made was calculated beforehand and how fearfully he lived his life afterwards, post barrier and pre barrier. Papyrus, however, sniffed him out with ease, which was why he took advantage of his weakened state all those eons back.

Back to his eldest brother...where in the void did that take him, though? Some of his old scientist buddies said that he had fell into his own experiment, that he had been “scattered across time an’ space,” --but the void was eternal, limitless, boundless....infinite.

Come to think of it. Since he died, the void felt fuller in a way, he remembered that because he tried to find him by teleportation. Regardless, it didn’t prove fruitful, so he had to accept the fact that his megalomaniac older brother had perished by being torn apart.

There had been no dust to grieve over, no belongings left behind. Just a memory.

Whatever inhabited this pocket, the void was trying to tell him it had escaped, the skeleton concluded. Otherwise, why show him this? That was the most logical explanation. Or one of the most logical, if he were to swiftly go over his other theories.

The void was becoming chaotic again, biting at his magic, trying to drown him in.

It was time to leave.

His raggedy bedroom greeted him shortly after, the atmosphere clear and airy again. That trip alone had put a strain on his magic and the skeleton slumped down on his mattress with an exhausted huff.

He’d return to Ava once he got a nap in. Just as he was about to close his eyes, Doomfanger meowled from the crack of his door, snapping him out of his dazed state.

“heya buddy,”

The cat, seeing that it had been given his attention, quickly padded inside and into his make-shift bed, settling its fat ass over his face and purring.

Nap it was then.

* * *

 

“I’m not sure I can pull this off,” you mumbled from One’s side of the passenger chair.

“The SUV parked outside their house is attracting enough attention as it is, Two. Now we’re just going to seem creepy standing here and trying to seem inconspicuous,”

You punched his shoulder with a glare.

“It just seems inappropriate?” you squealed at him, unable to find the right words to describe how this was awkward.

“It is inappropriate, but that’s how investigations work,” came his flat reply as he opened the car’s door and climbed out, adjusting his mask over his face.

Groaning, you followed his example and hopped down as well.

You did say you would talk to the boy’s mother today. No backing out now. The two of you walked confidently to the white picket fence and the classical urban house with the two decorative doors and ringer.

Instead, you chose to knock.

A few muffled sounds from inside and then the first door opened, a distressed, puffed-eyes woman standing there. “Y-Yes?” her voice was frail, but you definitely recognized the timbre. She had to be the mother you heard yesterday at the morgue.

“Hello, M’am, we are here on behalf of the Anti-Monster organization, regarding the passing of your son,” One began in a professional manner “We would like to address some questions as it would be useful to sketch a clear image of who your son was involved with to help with our investigation and catching the culprit,”

The woman, shaken up and barely able to contain her tears, nodded without a peep of a complaint.

_God, you felt horrible._

But when she opened the outside door, you walked inside regardless, putting personal feelings aside. She looked a lot like her son, with the messy brown hair in loose ringlets and honey brown eyes.

“W-would you like some coffee or...I don’t know…” she sniffed “...anything else?”

“No, M’am, we’re alright. I believe it would be best to finish this as soon as possible for your own sake, I know it must be extremely exhausting to have to deal with this right now,” One spoke again, like he knew the script by heart.

She nodded again, gesturing for the living room, where a small girl was playing with some dolls and ponies.

Mrs O’brien picked the child up in her arms and sat on one of the old-fashioned armchairs across from the love seat that you and One took.

“We will try to move past this as fast as we can,” your partner spoke, leaning his elbows on his knees. It was time for you to ask your questions.

“Could you tell us about your son? Was he involved with someone? Is there someone that would try to hurt him?” you took over now, gaining her undivided attention.

The brown haired lady looked away afterwards, her lower lip trembling, while the little girl in her grasp started struggling to be let go free, back to the dolls on the floor. “No, nobody...he was such a good boy, he was always on time at home, he was always kind to his fellow students, he never hurt anyone….” she began, voice cracking “...he even fought for those evil creatures’ rights, said he couldn’t stand seeing them being treated less than human….now look at him, those same things ended up killing him!”

“M’am, we don’t know for sure that it was a monster that--” but One got interrupted “Isn’t it obvious who killed my precious little boy? The police told me it was a monster, the coroner as well, how dare you come here and tell me it isn’t so?!” she snapped suddenly, making her daughter start crying.

Noticing this, she started bouncing her on her knee and biting her lip to fight back her tears.

“I-I’m sorry...I…” she squeezed her eyes shut and embraced her toddler tighter to her chest.

“It’s fine M’am, this is only routine, we’re sorry if we’re causing you more distress, but it is preferred for the questioning to happen while the events are still fresh in the mind, otherwise, important details may get lost with time,” One explained, keeping his tone neutral and professional. Like he did this millions of times already.

You felt sick to your stomach. “Mrs O’brien, you mentioned a group. Could you give me more details regarding that?” you softened your voice, careful to not upset her further.

“Yes...it was this group standing up for...those things’ rights, something of the sort,” she sighed “He went to meetings every week, arranging some kind of protest, it’s where he was coming from when he….when he…”

Time to break that thought. “Did he ever happen to mention a place called ‘At Grillby’s’?” you questioned further, forcing her off that road.

“No, never…” her brows furrowed together, eyes glossy “He always told me where he was going. After his father’s passing, he knew how...how anxious I would get when he would be away for too long...so he always told me…”

This time, when the little girl yanked herself from her mother, she was allowed to slide down on the floor and crawl back to her toys, completely oblivious to what was happening around her.

“M’am, did he ever borrow money from anywhere?” One inquired this time, allowing you to watch how the woman's face contorted so you could be able to tell if she was lying or being truthful.

“No! He would never!”

“Could you possibly tell us where these meetings took place?” you asked, giving it one more push. The female nodded “I can write it down for you,”

And that was that.

Concluding your interrogation, the two of you swiftly left the house, not before letting your gaze linger over the many family pictures of Benjamin with his mother and father, like one last bitter taste of reality.

As soon as you got back into the organization issued SUV with the lion head on each side, the two of you settled into the cushion of your seats, restless.

“Well that didn’t help at all,” One muttered, grasping the wheel tight in irritation.

You, however, stared at the note with interest. “I think it helped. This street, it’s behind Grillby’s….I’ve seen it on the map, I know it,”

This was getting more and more confusing, to the point where you re-played certain events in your mind and still couldn’t put the pieces together. If it wasn’t a monster, then what were those two monsters, captured a few weeks back, talking about? They died with the information, to protect it, afraid that he would come after them.

At first you thought that _he_ was the _he_ that you saw at the docks, the untagged monster, but now...you had to wonder who they meant. What if there were two separate entities?

_“We didn’t do anything!” the water elemental suddenly screeched, voice in a high pitch and water looking as if it was melting all over their body. “You don’t know what’s going on there! You have no idea! He would have killed us! We had to...we didn’t have a choice, he will come for us!”_

_“Shut up!” the lizard snapped, panic written all over its face. You flipped the knife so the blade was at the buff monster’s throat, mask on the elemental “Who is he?” you hissed. One stood up as well, strategically standing on the elemental’s side. It was time to force out a confession, lock Grillby away._

_“This isn’t just about Grillby, you stupid ass white face! This is so much bigger!” the elemental cried out again, struggling against the anti-magic cuffs. “Tell me then!” you pressed the blade harder against their buddy’s neck --”He who speaks in--” suddenly, the monster you held down with your knife, jerked forward and plunged its spiked tail into the elemental, while also forcing its own throat into your knife._

Even that untagged monster’s pattern. You went by the order of dates in the cases...it didn’t mean the monster did that --and you couldn’t believe you were saying this. Something was amiss and it was driving you crazy. 

“Let’s go to this place, see if we can find out anything. Afterwards, I think it’s due time we pay Grillby a real visit,” you suggested, letting the visor of your mask linger over One.

There had to be a link between all these cases, all these dead humans.

And honestly, you were scared and anxious of what this might uncover. Like the calm before a storm, the air felt tense and heavy.

Yet, you were filled with determination. Before now, you would have never even dreamed of saying this, but if monsters were being framed, then this could co sideways very fast and turn into a full blown war again.

Inevitably, with numbers dwindled, the humans would end up casting the monsters away again. Therefore, this situation had to be handled delicately, with a precision you didn’t think you possessed.

However, the thought of Sans...ending up as a scapegoat, or worse, dusted off --that alone made you realize how much you were truly capable of.

_Thump. Thump._

You would get to the bottom of this, and when you did, the one responsible would wish for the death penalty to be reinstated again, because that would be a lenient way to go compared to what you had in mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos, comment and bookmark if you liked this, it helps motivate me a lot!  
> love you guys~ <3


	13. the girl who cried wolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pheewww, long time no update  
> i know i know, stone me to death, but! i was away on vacation  
> spent time with family and all that, so pls forgive me orz  
> here is the newest chapter, longer than all have been so far  
> as an apology :'D   
> without further ado, please enjoy this one!
> 
> song to go with this : Miike Snow - Back Of The Car

“My boyfriend is a monster,”

No, this was not a confession made by you, it was one made by a pretty brown haired girl at the place where Benjamin O’Brien went for the monster-rights meetings. Apparently, this was kind of like an AA meeting, except that, well, people and monsters came together to speak about their grievances, their experiences, share opinions and tell their stories.

“We….we...ummm…” she shifted into her seat uncomfortably, the circles of chairs making it impossible for others to not see her clearly. You and One remained behind, by the doors of the auditorium, watching the whole spectacle.

“Elaine, you can speak freely here, we are all friends,” the one conducting everything spoke, calmly. He, if you went by the voice, was a flower monster, slim, green, petals instead of hair, that went around his rotund face like a red mane. His eyes were kind, though, a vibrant yellow that could make you spill anything.

“Right, I know…” the brunette mumbled, flushed and shy “We went together, to the movies...for the first time,” she began again “...It was that new one, with the robot invasion. I thought everything would be fine, nobody looked at us with hatred...but...then, when the movie was over…” her voice trembled.

“It’s okay, Elaine, if you don’t want to continue…”

“A bunch of monster haters...they cornered us behind the cinema, they beat him up so bad,” she hiccupped “...I was so scared they would dust him! I was so helpless and --” some tears fell down her cheeks “He didn’t want to fight back, I yelled at him to at least protect himself...it was ---I can’t--”

The girl was crying now, comforted by another older woman next to her.

Honestly, you had yet to see this level of violence from humans, which prompted the seed of doubt to root into your stomach almost instinctively --but why would she lie about it? So, Benjamin participated to these --did he have his own traumatic experience with other humans harming monsters? Did he perhaps have a monster girlfriend?

At the end of the meeting, the two of you waited until most were gone so you could approach the flower monster for information. At the sight of your uniforms, he stiffened and cleared his throat, nodding in acknowledgement.

“We are here on behalf of the Anti-Monster Organization, regarding the death of Benjamin O’Brien. His mother told us about these meetings,” One intruded, tone sharp --”I am One and my partner here, is Two, we want to ask some questions,”

“Benjamin is dead?” the red-petaled male asked, shock and horror tinting his voice.

You reluctantly stepped forward “We believe it might be murder, is there anything you can tell us that might help? Did he make any enemies here? Did you notice anything suspicious at the last meeting?”

Livid, the monster stumbled back and slowly sat down in one of the chairs he hadn’t folded to be put away. “Oh...my stars….”

One was getting agitated and annoyed, you could feel it, but for both of your sakes, you placed a hand on his bicep and squeezed in a manner that was meant to tell him to stand down.

“Well? Anything?”

The widened yellow eyes flicked up to you as if he was seeing you for the first time, a cold remembrance in the golden specks and ebony ring that dilated slowly, oh so slowly “No...no, everyone loved Benjamin, he was so passionate about our message, about our mission --he was such a good young man,” the floret paused, fingers like grass, only thicker, mingling together in anxiety.

“I think....--there were two others here --they didn’t join the meeting, they remained by the door, but I thought they were just curious, possible members, I didn’t look twice,” he keened, lowering his wilting petals with his head.

Your eyes narrowed behind your back and under your touch, One tensed at the information.

“Humans?”

The efflorescence nodded, thin shoulders sagged. “They were dressed...well…” his face inched up to look at the both of you with a confused frown “...a bit like you two are...actually,”

Your heart leaped in your chest and immediately, your face turned to One’s, then back at him.

“Are you certain?” your modified voice asked, unsurely, doubtfully --in fact, you realized, you were hoping, begging for it to not be true. When the plant monster grimaced and nodded again, your stomach felt like it had a hole in it, weighing you down uncomfortably.

“Very well, we will take our leave now,” One quickly excused the two of you, placing a hand over yours. You didn’t even realize how tight you were clutching on his arm, until you looked down and saw the white knuckles and crumpled material.

Abruptly, you let go and nodded, not trusting your tone at this moment.

“I could...I could try to remember their faces!” the flower halted your movement, standing up “My magic, it has to do with memory, I can remember things if I try hard enough, I can help you find the one that did this!” he added, voice clearly desperate.

You glanced back at the monster, chest tightening “That could be a good idea, maybe we can bring in a sketcher, get their appearance drawn, we'd know who to look for,”

At your suggestion, One glanced back as well, then lowered his mask’s visor to your own. “Alright. We will return tomorrow --if you are still here?”

“Yes, yes I will be here tomorrow, I have to overlook the preparations for the annual charity event,” he quickly blubbered, hopeful. “I will be here from ten to six, if that’s alright with you, hunters?”

“Yes, it’s okay with us. We’ll be here,” you replied, giving one more nod before you left the auditorium.

The silence in the car, as you got in, was tense, heavy. There was a chance, a slim one, that one of your own did this unspeakable act, a hunter, who was supposed to protect humans from monsters, killing humans to frame the former. How...how fucked up was that?

Quietly, One slipped his mask off and threw it in the backseat carelessly.

The readings on him, from you mask, showed extreme agitation. His heart rate was sky high and his heat signature showed rage going by the patterns.

“I always...I always thought that --” his fingers wrapped around the steering wheel and clasped tight “Since I was a kid, I always believed in righteous justice. There was always good and bad, the good guys putting the evil criminals behind bars, punishing them for what they did,” he began, staring ahead as if the stop sign in the distance had the answers he was looking for.

“That’s why I joined the organization. The...the knowledge that what I was doing was not meaningless, the knowledge that I was helping people, fighting the war for those who couldn’t...the knowledge that I was part of something big, a change, a purpose...it made me feel complete, made me feel whole, in control,”

His confession, the depth of it, prompted you to move the mask from your face as well, revealing a softening gaze trained on his conflicted expression. Never in all the years that you two have been partners, did he open up to you about himself like such. The fact that this affected him so much, the always serious, brooding and perfect One, it was...it was frightening you.

He raised a hand and slid his fingers over his chin, rubbing at the reddening skin in impulsive comfort.

“I feel like everything is crumbling, Ava. I can’t seem to catch the pieces fast enough to put it all back together, they slip through my fingers,”

He was feeling helpless, vulnerable. He was always the one with the answers, always fixing everything and handling anything unexpected, before he knew how to expect the unexpected and nothing caught him guard-down.

“Maybe…” you whispered, lowering your eyes to his hand on the wheel “Maybe it’s supposed to crumble. If the foundation isn’t strong, then it’s bound to happen. Right now, everything is shaking, there’s no more black and white, it’s grey, and we have to figure this out, stable it again,”

Your words made his emeralds flicker languidly and his head to turn your way. “What if we can’t?” he asked, his tone so insecure and hoarse that you felt your stomach knot.

“Then we’ll have to let it fall to pieces and build up something new,”

Grillby would have to wait another day.

 

* * *

 

 

When Sans woke up, the day had already turned to night, furious grey clouds taking over the sky. This winter had to be the most annoying one he’d witnessed since they broke surface.

The smell of lasagna permeated the air. Doomfanger slowly rose from where he curled at his side during the nap, and stretched. Red lights came to life behind heavy stark white eyelids.

Time to return to his sweetheart.

Rousing from the sleep-smelling mattress, the skeleton scratched his skull and yawned, popping a few bones here and there. The cat quickly trotted to the door, pawing at it to open.

“yea yea...i’m comin’, lil’ buddy,”

With heavy steps, he slipped on his puffy white slippers and dragged his feet to the door, letting the cat out and having his nostrils fill with the smell of food. Papyrus was home, no doubt. Might as well pop in there so he’d at least see him for whatever it was worth.

Slowly, so slowly, like he dreaded the very act of walking, he made his way down the halway.

And like he suspected, he found Papyrus lovingly petting Doomfanger and feeding it bits of minced meat he used for the lasagna that was still in the oven. “hey boss,”

Comically, his brother jumped away from the cat and glared at him accusingly, as if he weren’t supposed to catch him in tender moments with their pet. “SANS, WHAT HAVE WE TALKED ABOUT KNOCKING BEFORE YOU DISTURB ME?”

Sans casually made a show of looking around at the open-space between the living room and kitchen. “call me _unhinged_ , but i can’t see no door, boss,”

“SANS! I FORBID YOU TO USE PUNS WHILE YOU ARE UNDER MY ROOF! IN FACT, I BELIEVE I ALREADY TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE, ARE YOU A CRETIN?”

The shorter skeleton shrugged. Words stopped meaning something a long time ago. As long as Papyrus wasn’t gonna beat him up, it was safe to say that he was content. Since they started living within their society, his brother stopped behaving as erratic and violent as before.

Naturally, Sans picked up on this change pretty fast.

“so, what’s cookin’?”

As if the change of topic presented an opportunity, his younger brother posed fiercely next to the oven with his red apron on, quite proud of himself. “LASAGNA, IF YOU MUST KNOW. I HAVE FIGURED OUT THE INTRICACIES OF MAKING THIS COMPLEX DISH, ALL BY MYSELF. FIGURES THAT THE GREAT AND TERRIFYING PAPYRUS IS BRILLIANT IN THE FIELD OF CULINARY ART AS WELL AS THE FIELD OF BATTLE,”

“you’re so cool, boss,”

“IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING,”

The compliment worked like a charm and before he knew it, there was a plate of the lasagna in front of him and they were eating together at the kitchen table. Sans stuffed his face, inwardly proud of the fact that his little brother was such a good cook, the food edible and tasty at the same time. It has been a long while since he’d seen Papyrus so passionate about something and for once, he was happy it was this.

Swallowing a forkful, his red eye-lights peered at his brother’s own, catching him staring at the eagerness with which Sans was eating. “this’ s amazin’, boss,” he managed through a mouth full of meat and pasta.

The taller skeleton glared away immediately, bashfully. “...T-THANK YOU….SANS,”

Sans paused, trying to figure out of he heard correctly. Noticing this, Papyrus glared daggers at him “EAT YOUR FOOD AND STOP STARING LIKE AN IMBECILE!”

A stupid grin etched on his face, the short brother felt his SOUL tingle. “i’m proud of ya, bro,”

That took the fierce ex-captain of the guards by surprise, red pin-pricks shrinking to needles. “I --Y-YOU --SAY --SANS!” he stuttered and choked on words, finally deciding to stand up and stomp away with a frustrated groan and angry grumbling.

Needless to say, Sans did catch a glimpse of the smile threatening to curl over the ever-serious face of Papyrus.

Perhaps he should stick around for a while longer.

...

  
When his brother joined him again, it was past eight, on their couch in front of the TV. He already sent a text to his sweetheart, letting her know he was going to be there much later.

“UNDYNE AND ALPHYS WILL BE ARRIVING SOON FOR OUR HORROR MOVIE NIGHT,” he muttered acidly, sitting down with more force than was necessary.

“ya have a horror movie night?”

“YES. SINCE YOU ARE NEVER HERE TO PARTICIPATE, I DON’T EXPECT YOU TO KNOW, OR STAY, FOR THAT MATTER,”

Veiled by the angry words was the question of whether he was going to stay for said event or not. “might stay,”

“OH? ARE YOU CERTAIN THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LEAVE AND JOIN THAT HARLOT OF YOURS YOU SO DESPERATELY STAY WITH FOR WEEKS ON END?” was he jealous that he was not around that much anymore?

“she ain’t a ‘harlot’, bro,” he air-quoted, amused “an’ i stay with ‘er ‘cause she’s nice company,” the addition made Papyrus seethe down at him.

“DO YOU PLAN TO BOND WITH HER, THEN?”

The question had Sans squirming uncomfortably and sputtering nonsense as he stood up straight from his casual laying over the couch. “...why --i don’--s’not like….well…”

“SHUT UP, YOU BLUBBERING FOOL. IF YOU DO PLAN TO BOND WITH THIS... _NICE COMPANY_ , THEN I WANT TO MEET HER AS WELL,”

Well, shit.

“uh...dunno if she can, she’s very busy --” he was sweating bullets under Papyrus’ scorching stare “y’know, she’s got a job an’ all?”

“ARE YOU HIDING SOMETHING FROM ME, SANS?”

... _double shit._

“me? boss, i would neva’...y’know me…” he raised his hands in defense. Just at that moment, when the taller skeleton was about ready to pry harder, the doorbell rang.

His attention off the topic, Sans breathed out his relief as his brother went to open the door for the two monsters.

However, the moment Alphys met his eyes, she had a wickedly calm smile upon her maw that set his head spinning with scenarios. A smile that was meant only for him, no less.

“Long time no see, you lazy punk!”

Undyne snapped him out of his deathly glare aimed for her reptilian partner. Her reaction was a complete change from the meek behavior she had when he had confronted her. Did something happen? His brow bones lowered into a light scowl and he returned his attention to the TV.

“yea yea, we gonna start the movie night already or nah?”

As soon as he mentioned that, Undyne was on a roll with shoving popcorn bags into Papyrus’ arms and digging into the plastic bag full of DVD’s she had brought over, launching into long explanations of which were the most gore-filled and violent. 

Papyrus insisted they watch the goriest of them all, and, with Undyne in tow, they settled for that, something about a guy with a chainsaw. Honestly, Sans didn’t care, but he stuck around to keep an eye on the mad scientist taking the seat on the floor by her girlfriend.

With the lights off and the only source of light being the TV, he couldn’t quite make out much, but by her body language, she seemed more confident than she should be, considering whose house she was in. Things that didn’t match, things that didn’t make sense, unusual reactions and actions, they bothered Sans, no matter how small and insignificant they might seem to another person. It was a gift and a curse to be able to observe every tiny speck of dust and change in mood.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed against his leg, within his black sweatpants’ pocket.

Grunting, he fished for it and let the stark white of the screen to bathe his skull in an artificial light. It was a message from Two, something that surprised him, because she wouldn’t normally bother to answer back, going by the events of the last few weeks.

 _‘So when do you get back?’_ \--it sounded irritated.

_‘Later :P’_

Not even two seconds later _‘Can you get some pizza? And order some flowers for Ally’s birthday? I’m a day late and I’m incredibly busy right now.’_

What? Order flowers for the kid? Right, humans celebrated their birthdays. How did one even order flowers? He knew how to get pizza, food wasn’t hard to buy, he could just swing by the pizza place in monster territory, but flowers? He did know where Ally lived, but --

Fine. He’d figure it out somehow --but first --

_‘Only if I get a blowjob tonight :P’_

Needless to say, there was no answer to his last text. He figured that wouldn’t happen after an hour of waiting for any sign, so, defeated, he looked up flower shops that were still open at this time.

Nothing.

Getting flowers from a gas station it was then. Or a convenience store?

As soon as the movie ended, he stood up from the couch and begrudgingly made his way towards his bedroom to get dressed and be off, until Alphys spoke up “Oh, Sans, are you going to your girlfriend’s house?”

And an electric chill ran down his spine.

Her smile was crude, twisted, a dangerous glint in her dull red pupils hidden behind dirty glasses.

“DOCTOR ALPHYS, YOU KNOW SANS’ ROMANTIC PARTNER?”

“I’ve s-seen her, yes!”

Undyne whistled, a teasing grin on her face “Didn’t know you had it in you, old bones,”

“S-she’s very pretty!” Alphys continued, in a predatory manner that made his phalanges twitch dangerously inside his pant pockets. She was playing a very dangerous game, walking a very very thin line.

“HE DOESN’T WANT TO PRESENT HER TO ME,” his brother accussed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“wouldn’t want’er to feel pressured, y’know?” his red pinpricks turned to the trio, before they fell on Alphys alone “wanna gimme some advice, doc? we can talk privately, i know ya too shy to spill ya secrets in front of ya girlfriend,”

His smile was that of a shark ready to splinter his target into little pieces, shred them to nothing.

Alphys’ smile faded little by little “Aw, Alphys, babe, give the guy some pointers. I mean, they worked on me!” her girlfriend encouraged, squeezing her shoulder from next to her. “YES, I BELIEVE HE COULD MAKE USE OF SOME DATING ADVICE. HE DOES NOT WANT TO HEAR ANY FROM ME, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE SUCH AN OUTRAGEOUS THING,”

It was then that Alphys realized her plan backfired and she was forced by the consequences to smile meekly, returning to her usual brittle and timid self in a second, and nod. “O-of course, Sans…” her claws twiddled nervously as she stood and trotted, slowly, snail-paced after him.

When they got inside his room and the door shut with a quiet click, all on its own via his magic, the yellow reptile recoiled and slammed her back to the wooden surface, in an attempt to put as much distance between them as possible.

“I know everything! Y-you think y-you’re the only one that knows s-some secrets? I know s-some too!”

She was hyperventilating. Sans raised an unimpressed brow “ya think ya have me cornered?”

The mad scientist bared her teeth at him. “Don’t u-underestimate me! S-she’s a hunter!” she croaked, sweating and wiping at her forehead.

He stilled, mid-pulling his jacket on. “yea? how ya know that?” he challenged, jagged teeth clenched and a murderous look in his eye.

“I f-followed you...then-then...to her p-place. I-it wasn’t hard to f-find out who l-lived there. I know everything!” she breathed harder “T-the same h-hunter that t-took down Asgore, I’ve s-seen her, but-but you didn’t k-know that, huh?”

Smiling maniacally, she adjusted her foggy glasses. “Y-you were the one that h-helped her take d-down the barrier too, defeat Asgore’s mutts...s-stay hidden. Y-you’re a traitor…” she laughed, as if that was the best joke she’s ever told.

Sans, however, was completely quiet.

“S-so...I know...I know they will….they will turn y-you to dust. M-maybe take turns…” she added, riding the euphoria that this moment of dominance offered her, like some kind of high. She really liked being a smartass, didn’t she?

His grin curled into a cruel mocking smile, moving towards her.

“y’know, alph...that don’t change the fact that i can dust ya right where ya stand,”

She stiffened, eyes widening. For someone so smart, she had some really stupid moments.

“an’ we both know how i was nice ‘nough to let undyne live after she tried that stunt back in the days, yea? do ya wan’ me to take more than an eye?”

Frozen to her spot, she swallowed thickly, shaking her head as if realization just downed on her. “Y-you wouldn’t…”

“i would, i’d dust ya both if ya even breathe my way again,” his grin widened “an’ ya know i can fuck up ya whole life, paps won’t even try to stop me,” he continued, even closer to the now trembling otaku.

“so, i can dust ya an’ undyne now...or i can let ya go an’ ya keep that dumb mouth of yours shut, howzaboutit?”

“I...I won’t say anything...but! --” her hands wiped at the sweat on her scaly forehead “What you’re doing is...is w-wrong...a-as long as you d-don’t talk, I won’t talk either,” she finished, avoiding his eyes.

“ain’t ya business what i do,” he snarled, resuming the task he was on before this shit went down. Hopefully, he’ll still find something open before anyone else decided to waste his fucking time with nonsense.

“Did you mate with her? B-bond with her?”

Scowling, the skeleton wondered if blasting her into dust was still off the table. “i said that it ain’t ya business--” “B-because you act like a bonded mate,”

“jus’ shut the fuck up, alph and don’t get in my fuckin’ space,”

That said, he blipped away, no more concerned with what he left behind than he’d be with the existence of an ant after he stepped on it. Alphys wouldn’t talk, unless she wanted an encore of what he did to Undyne all those eons back, when they were in conflict. The very fact that she was so one-dimensional that she believed she had the upper hand over him, was in itself, ludicrous.

However, what he was really concerned with, was who exactly saw Two and if they did, if they could recognize her.

Paranoia settled into his nonexistent guts while he looked over some cheap rose bouquets by the sliding doors of the corner market on his street. Perhaps carnations were more suitable? He wasn’t that good when it came to flowers and shit.

Maybe he should add a box of chocolate for the kid...and a card, so she knows who the flowers are from.

The gerberas looked wilted. Carnations it was. He swept the best looking bouquet in his hand and trudged to the bored cashier, staring into space, at the register. He recognized the ex-nice cream guy with faint remembrance as he slapped the flowers on the counter, along with some cheap chocolate from underneath and a happy birthday card with a badly drawn cat on it.

Sneering, the blue monster checked the items and set them into a plastic bag, waiting impatiently for the money with the bounce of a foot. “long night ahead?”

“You wouldn’t believe it,”

And that was the whole conversation as Sans fished for some crumpled bills in his pockets to pay for the stuff and leave.

Now, with the flowers and shit in his hand, he had to figure out a way to deliver them to Ally’s door. She currently lived with her grandmother, by what he knew, in an old house, so finding out her apartment number was quickly relieved off his shoulders, thank the stars. Maybe he should just ring and leave the stuff on the doorstep?

Checking his phone, he realized it was eleven o’clock. Yeah, the old lady was probably snoring at this hour. Ringing the bell was not gonna happen.

What if he snuck inside and left them in Ally’s bedroom instead? He knew for a fact that her bedroom was on the first floor of the house, the last two windows. Sometimes he watched over her when she'd come back from school, because she was a familiar part of Two, it helped soothe him.

Oh well, he’d figure it out once he got there.

...

  
Honestly, the plan sounded easier in his mind now that he was staring at the victorian-looking building. The things he did for his lovely sweetheart --if only she were more grateful for all these sacrifices.

“right,”

The good thing was, her window was slightly open --in the crack ass of winter, no less. That kind of worried him a little, but maybe she was feeling too hot inside?

But how was he going to get to the window in the first place?

_Oh._

That could work. He summoned a gaster blaster, the great animal skull lowering down enough so he could climb up on it. After he steadied himself on one knee, making sure to not drop the contents in the bag, the blaster slowly rose up until he was the same level with the window.

The next obstacle was fitting through the half-shut entrance, forcing himself to not make too much noise as he kicked his feet harder to slip through. In the end, the gaster had to shove him through with its maw before it vanished, sending him crashing into the opposite wall of the dark room. Nonetheless, it was noisy as all hell. 

“fuckin’...shit….” he grumbled in a hushed tone, scrambling up to his feet. At least the girl didn’t --”...is...is a-anyone there?” and the next thing he knew, Ally flicked the lamp from her nightstand on. Her big brown eyes settled on him, widened, scared, a bit older than he remembered.

Shit, she must be ten or something now, right? Maybe twelve?

“...hey brat,”

His voice seemed to register in her mind, just as recognition flitted through her gaze. “M-Mister Sans?”

It only took a second for the girl to launch herself at him and tackle him down with a bear hug. She cried and laughed at the same time, muttering unintelligible things in his jacket. Reluctantly, he patted her head and back, a warm feeling spreading through his old bones.

“heard t’was ya birthday, wan’ed to surprise ya an’ all,” he explained once she calmed down enough to let him breathe. Sitting cross-legged on the plush carpet of her room, the skeleton munched on the chocolate he bought for the kid --not that Ally was better, her cheeks were puffed out with the stuff, atop her pillows and blanket on the bed.

“T-was two bays aco,” she managed while chewing, resulting in muffled wording that Sans understood regardless. “yea, two told me,”

Hearing the name, she perked up, pausing to look at him with shiny bright eyes. “Two?” she swallowed quickly, coughing a few times “She’s alive? She’s here too?” the girl almost scrambled off the bed to go to the window, but Sans halted her with a flat “nah,”

“but these are from her too, y’know? shit, forgot to write the card…”

The girl visibly slouched, saddened at the news “...Mister Sans, I’ve seen you a few times...i-in the park…” she confessed, sitting back down “s-so I was happy to know you were alive...here, I feel s-safe knowing that...but --” then her gaze met his and he felt his SOUL throb “...Two...does she hate me? I...I thought that she was d-dead…”

“nah, kid, she’s alive...she had it bad..s’all,” he mumbled, interrupting her before she could go on, brow bones furrowed together. He understood what she was feeling, he had felt it too. Abandonment. And he couldn’t even imagine how much worse it was for her who spent more time with Two, survived with her and looked up to her like she looked at a mother.

He stood up and closed the distance between them, sitting beside her on the bed and placing a hand on her head. “she’ll come see ya, i promise, she jus’ needs some time…” he spoke with a certainty that had the brown haired girl look at him with hope. “But it’s been four years...I --”

“yea...i know, but she’ll come ‘round, ya’ll see. she needs’ta figure out some stuff an’ all. i’ll bring her here myself if i have’ta,”

She smiled sheepishly and hugged him gently this time.

“You promise?”

He stiffened a bit, before he sighed and returned the embrace. “promise,”

After two more hours of hushed talking, story-telling and chocolate devouring, Sans had to leave, bidding the little girl goodbye and making his way out through the same window, that Ally was nice enough to pull up fully so it would be easier for him, justifying its opening for her grandmother making the whole house too hot for her liking. As he jumped, he vanished mid-way, with one last wink towards the youngster.

 

* * *

 

 

Ava’s apartment was dark and cold, and, for a moment, his SOUL stuttered in his ribcage, afraid that he wouldn’t find her there. Stepping through darkness, the light of the TV in her living room made him feel more at ease. Inching closer, his blood-red lights roamed over the sleeping form of the female under some blankets he had used to lay about on the couch when he felt particularly lazy.

He didn’t need to ask to know why she was sleeping here instead of her comfy bed. Instead, he smiled down at her with adoration and caressed her cheek with gentle pressure. Loving her was like seeing a sunset for the first time after a lifetime of darkness, he poetically concluded within the depth of his mind. He couldn’t even begin to explain to anyone how they worked, or why they worked.

_She was destruction given form and purpose. Hers was an elegant savagery --a beautiful kind of madness, a misunderstood truth._

Even now, completely unconscious, completely at his mercy, she was a force of nature, one that brought men to their knees with one glance of the frozen tundra veiled in her eyes.

Heh, since when did he become so anapestic? Poetry and superficial metaphors were not his thing, not until he met her.

In the secretive silence of the night, with the static of the TV behind him, he blamed the many books he had read over the years. “a’ight sweetheart, le’s go to bed, yea?” he whispered to the dozing huntress, effortlessly tucking his arms behind her knees and back, catching some of the blankets with her body and hoisting her up from the uncomfortable couch.

He laid her on her bed with so much care that his fellow monsters would have been terrified. The jacket was thrown to the side, the sneakers kicked off --then, he climbed on the mattress and brought her lithe form to him, her heart close to his in the embrace he melded her into. She mumbled something incoherent, grumbled and nuzzled into his side without further struggle.

“g’night doll,”

...

......

_Shit, he forgot the pizza._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please kudos, comment and bookmark if you enjoyed it!  
> i love your feedback so pls don't be shy <3 love u all~


	14. we gon' burn the whole house down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update orz  
> uhh, i made up for that in words, i guess, a longer chapter!  
> and smut --yep, there's smut at the beginning, so if you wanna skip that  
> just start reading from the three dots  
> all in all, things are starting to move at a faster pace, so put your seat belts on peeps!  
> lemme know what your thoughts are in the comment section, i love hearing from you <3
> 
> songs to go with this: Billie Eilish - idontwannabeyouanymore & AJR - Burn The House Down

Blissfully unaware; that’s how you could describe your morning as your mind slowly began to stir awake. There was warmth around you, there was calmness, security, silence...and a skeleton dry humping your ass while he spooned you.

As you weren’t completely cognizant, your body’s reaction was to push back. In fact, as you arched into his motions, you slowly realized that he was probably as conscious as you were.

For now, you chose to remain ignorant, shut the problems off, outside your bedroom door. Quickly, like you had been blessed or cursed, you couldn’t exactly tell, your mind reeled to question how you ended up in your own bed, swiftly pulling you into remembering that you had crashed in the living room.

“ _nh._.”

 _Right_. It had to be his doing. You leaned your head back into him, breathing out a sleepy moan, a few strands of dark hair whisking out on the stark white of the pillow as a result. Should you? Could you?

Ah, he felt nice and hard.

Mind made, you reached back with a clumsy hand and trailed your fingers over his erection, strained underneath the material of his slacks, which he seemed to appreciate by the way he bucked into your palm. “...wanna?”

“Wanna _what_?” you asked, stumbling over your words as you tried to pronounce clearly, retracting the adventurous hand you spared him. In retaliation, he gave a particularly aggressive hump as if to underline the intent “wanna fuck?” --as tactful as always.

“Did you get the flowers?”

“yea,”

“Alright, keep the covers on, it’s cold,”

Even barely able to open your eyes and clear the haze of your mind, you asked to be hidden from his gaze, something he didn’t question, thankfully. You weren’t in the mood to start explaining yourself, and, frankly, you didn’t want to, either, not yet, not to him, you could barely sit down with yourself about these facts as it was.

Teeth pressed at the nape of your neck and a nice little pressure made your belly tingle when his phalanges grasped your hip while he rocked into you, a bit more eager than a few seconds ago. ”Mh…”

“i forgot the pizza,” he mumbled into your skin, letting the bones of his hand trail down to the pajama pants’ helm, a hard thrust of his groin against your backside making you moan softly, still very much hazy from sleep. “Don’t care…” you murmured after the sharp pause, pressing your ass back into him.

That seemed to be the right thing to say, because he grunted and yanked the elastic down, leaving just your uncomfortably soaked panties out in the chilling air --you shifted your derriere, thighs tense. Swiftly, he kneaded the firm flesh of the right buttock, travelling almost impatiently to the prize beneath your cotton boyshorts and sliding one phalange over the length of your slit, finding it slippery and ready, much to your embarrassment and his delight.

Hell, you didn’t even know you wanted it this bad. He shuddered behind you, and you could hear him breathing harder as he fumbled clumsily with what you assumed were his own pants. “ya so wet already, sweetheart,” he groaned dazedly, shuffling until your felt the slimy prick of his cock on the back of your thigh.

Using words right now was not to your advantage, so you remained still, biting your lip in anticipation just as his phalange hooked on the lining of the underwear and tugged it aside to line up and --”...fuck,” he filled you up with just one hard thrust, meeting no resistance until he hilted. Your breath hitched and your fingers dug into your pillow, teeth clenched at the feeling of being stretched so nice and full.

His ribcage was warm against your back, even through his shirt; his other arm slid ardently underneath you to grab at your other hip and his skull buried into the back of your head, nose cavity breathing deeply the scent of your hair. “stars, ya feel so nice an’ tight, i wanna jus’ rip ya apart,” he crooned darkly, tightening his hold possessively.

“J-Just shut up and fuck me,” you managed in a breezy exhale, trying to make yourself not sound like a complete twat lost in the moment. “...so fuckin’ demandin’,” the hand that had previously been on the hip facing up, immediately drew along, feathered over your hardening nipples and stopped at your throat, hard digits clamping down with bruising strength at the same time his hips started moving.

You inhaled sharply and your hand shot down to his femur at the quick shallow pace he set, feeling his girth stretch you and slide over your walls almost painfully fast. It felt as if you were swallowing him up, inch by inch, hungry and needy for what only he could give you; and, he seemed very much aware of this once your wanton moans filled the room, the headrest of your bed hitting the wall with his powerful jerks, in tandem with the obscene sound your sopping pussy made whenever he bottomed out and stuffed his cock back in.

Fucking hell, you felt so filthy but so good, so right, at the same time.

“ain’t so mouthy now, are ya sweetheart?”

Your breathy mewling turned into full on wails the moment he changed the angle and stood on his forearm, shifting so he pressed into you harder, holding you by the throat alone. “look at ya, takin’ what i give…”

Unfocused eyes peered at him from the corner, mouth open and inviting.

“should jus’ leave ya hangin’ like ya did me, huh?”

Your protesting whine and buck of your hips into him, had the skeleton’s grin widen. This time, he let go of your windpipe and hooked your left leg up over his shoulder as he changed his position, not even bothering to slip out of your slick folds. The rotation made you gasp and shut your eyes tight “but i ain’t that cruel,” --instead, he snapped his pelvis testily, grasping your leg tight as to keep it straight up.

“that’s betta’,” his spine curled when he leaned over you, forcing your limb to bend with his movement, his intent clear when your knee touched your chest. You welcomed his bruising kiss, passionate and sloppy as it was, if only to urge him to resume his fucking. When he was satisfied, his tongue lapping at your mouth, teeth grazing your chin and bone scraping your flesh, his hips jerked into yours again, cock hitting the spot that made an electric surge run down your body and fill your belly, an ache, an itch, a craving, started up like the beginning sparks of a raging fire.

And your pants weren’t even off yet. Your panties still on, probably disgustingly soaked with your arousal.

And everything seemed so far away.

His half-shut eyes watched you as he panted with every unyielding thrust, mouth open with his razor sharp teeth on display, drooling, sweating -- _so gross_ , but yours, nonetheless. Red pin-pricks dilated and his metacarpals squeezed your flesh, ramming so deep inside you that you could see stars.

A morning quickie turned into something much more intense, slipping out of your control faster than you could recover. “ _Oh Sans_ …” his name escaped through your lips in a wailing sigh, head rolling back as the pressure built up and coiled. His reaction was immediate, his breathing became ragged and his pounding erratic, as if you saying his name so sweetly affected him like an aphrodisiac.

“stars...when ya say my name like that…” his hips stuttered and he stood up on his kneecaps, trailing a hand down to your clit “lemme see that pretty lil’ face ‘o yours,” he began a circular motion over the bundle of nerves with the heel of what made his palm’s bones. It was a rough sensation, but it somehow doubled the intensity and pace at which your orgasm was building.

“Oh fuck…” you arched up into him, lewd choked noises spilling from your mouth, heart like a war drum in your ears. “Harder...please go harder,”

“dunno if i’ll last longer like that, sweetheart--” but you interrupted him by grinding into him with desperate force, chasing the peak that would throw you over that edge. He took it in stride, rolled harder, slamming his cock into your dripping cunt in uncontrolled movements.

Your eyes met his and then the waves crashed over you, forcing your body into a twitching mess and his name to be chanted like a prayer as your head lolled back and eyelids fell heavily.

He fucked you through your orgasm, the muscles in your pussy fluttering and squeezing him for all he was worth, until he stopped abruptly just before the effects of overstimulation took over you.

Tense, pelvis pressed tight to yours, the skeleton’s body stuttered; leaning over you and grunting, his cock throbbed inside you as he came, spilling warm into you. Probably still under the effect of endorphins, you reached out and caught the collar around his neck, pulling him into a bruising, moaning kiss at the feeling of him still pulsing within you.

Your tongue tasted his in languid motions, a lover’s kiss.

When you broke away to breathe properly, he was staring at you with widened pupils, dreamily, and, as if you realized what you did, you were the one that ended the act by pushing yourself in a sitting position against the headboard, effectively having his length slipping out in the process.

Your chest heaved, breathing evening as moments passed with the two of you just staring at each other --and why did your chest feel so constricted? Sometimes you felt things that you were pretty sure were not yours to feel --like the urge to press your mouth to his right now and try an encore.

Okay, no, you needed to do something --say something.

“I’ll go make coffee,” you stated simply, trying to snap out of the moment before it became awkward. You didn’t want to stand around and enjoy the afterglow, you felt like you didn’t really deserve it for some reason.

“ok,” he deflated before your eyes, cockiness gone, confidence in shambles. How could you explain to him that it was you that was the problem and not the intimacy that you just shared.

“...I liked it…” you added with hesitation; for fuck’s sake, you just got your shit together with him, why do you have to make it weird again? He perked up at that, mid-pulling his pants up.

“a’ight?”

“A-A lot,” you quickly added again, rolling to the edge of the bed to stand up on shaky legs. Jerkily, you pulled your underwear back in place, along with the pajama pants and adjusted your shirt “Do you want anything to eat?”

“anythin’ ya eatin’ is fine,” he shrugged, not looking at you from the other side of the bed.

Well, time to get the fuck out. “Okay, you can wait for me in the living room, we’re eating there,”

But before he could say much else, you were out the door.

...

The cooking trip to the kitchen was exactly what you needed. Absentmindedly, you caressed the ugly scar over your abdomen, from underneath your shirt --today you would definitely get things done, your mused, thoughts taking you back to the events of yesterday. No longer were the problems locked away at the door, they were glaring you in the face. With that in mind, you finished breakfast, placed the sunny-side up eggs on two plates, along with the bacon, managed to get a mustard bottle from the fridge as well and sashayed into the living room.

On that note, you would also need to shower, badly.

Sans was on the couch, leaned back, arms over the headrest on both sides, watching the news on TV. “Here,” you chirped, gaining his attention as you placed the two plates on the coffee table, with a smack from the mustard bottle to show off that you knew what he liked, as a peace offering.

“think this’ the first time ya cook for me,” completely unrelated as it was, it made you blush and look away. He grabbed the bottle nonetheless, popped the cap open and chugged a good portion of the condiment.

You cringed. “Eat it while it’s hot,” was the only reply he got before you left for the kitchen again, to get your coffee mug.

The noise of the TV was mostly ignored by you, the news were bland for your taste, but when you returned, gaze flicking up furtively, the scene behind the reporter on the screen made you halt.

It was the auditorium building you had been at with One, just yesterday.

“.. _.the authorities say that it was a gang attack, all monsters having been turned to dust and two eyewitnesses suggesting that that was the case_ \--”

You dropped the coffee on the floor. Sans, startled by the sound, whipped around to look at you, eye sockets wide and forkful of eggs between his razor sharp teeth. “sweetheart?”

Thoughts raced through your mind so fast that you had trouble catching them, but certain things were clear; This was not a gang attack, it was too much of a coincidence for that to be the case, considering just yesterday you and One went to pry into a case you were told not to pry into; Second of all, despite all the measures you took, you two had been made; Third, the only way that you had of finding the truth and convicting the real culprits, was now dead.

“You need to leave. Now. Don’t ask questions, just go,” you spewed out before you could put the right words together.

“wha’?”

“Now, Sans,” you urged, turning your wide gaze to him, face livid.

The skeleton stared at you with a confused expression on his face, then turned his eye lights to the TV and back to you. “does it got to do with--”

“Yes. Wait for my call--” “nah, i’m comin’ with ya --” “Absolutely not! You can’t come where I go,” your serious no-nonsense face had him realize that this was not a plea, but a statement. There was no fighting you on this matter.

The peaceful morning had long vanished, replaced with anxiety, anticipation and rage within your gut. “fine...but ya betta’ call me ‘cause i’m comin’ for ya if ya don’t…”

With two fast strides, over the staining coffee on your carpet, you caught him into a kiss, both hands on each side of his skull, conveying as much of your emotions as you could. When you broke away, you rested your forehead on his, eyes closed. “Alright, I can accept that,”

His own phalanges trailed over your hands, tangling them between your fingers, squeezing them for assurance and pressing his forehead back into you with affection. “the kid’s still waitin’ for ya, an’ i made ‘er a promise,”

Ally? Still waiting for you? No, you couldn’t allow this to distract you. Opening your eyes, you let your hands fall at your sides, a stern contort of your visage letting him know this was the end of the discussion for now.

“ _Go_ ,”

He vanished into thin air, snapping his head away from you with a scowl, leaving you alone with the background noise of the TV.

…

After a few moments of standing there, numbly, sorting through everything running through your brain, you turned tail to your bedroom, where you looked for your phone haphazardly, throwing pillows and clothes out of your way.

Once found, you sat down on the edge of the bed and quickly scrolled for any messages from One, any calls, anything. But there was nothing and you could feel a knot forming into your belly --and today started so nice.

With shaking hands, you called his number.

  
_"The mobile phone you are try to call has been switched off. Please try again later."_

  
Your blood turned to ice in your veins. One never shuts off his phone, he always responds after the second ring, leaves a message or doesn’t answer by pressing the end call button if he’s busy.

You had been made.

What happened to One? What was going to happen to you? You bolted up and rushed to the bathroom, taking a quick, cold, shower in an attempt to calm down, before you gathered some of the toiletries and marched back into your bedroom. “Fuck,” you alarmingly muttered to yourself, grabbing a backpack from under the bed and shoving some necessities, clothes and products in it.

“ _Fuck_ ,” the next move was getting your hunter outfit on. In your wake, there was a mess that could be easily confused with a breaking and entering gone wrong.

“ ** _Fuck_** ,” --the knives. You got on your knees, mid-putting your armored plates on your shoulders and reached deep into your closet for the case with the weapons. Flipping it open, shoving some shoes aside, you took out your trusty hunter knives and began sheating them on your harness, making sure to not leave any space free.

This course of events pretty much validated your theory, the one you didn’t want to believe. It seemed like the organization was behind some very unsavory actions that bordered on genocide, killing off monsters one by one, blaming it on them and taking the lives of innocent humans in the long run to ensure that the scapegoat was easy to pinpoint.

Was the council behind this? Did your father know? Did the other top hunters know?

Which of them were responsible for the hit? Were they coming for you? Was your father unaware of the serpent at the organization’s breast? Was One dead? Was this a coup? There were still so many variables.

And there was just one way to find out.

Pulling on your boots and lacing them tight, you stood tall in front of the mirror, ice cold blues reflecting uncertainty and fright for what you might stumble upon.

...

First, you used one of your personal hide-outs, a storage container that belonged to you under a forged name, where you deposited your backpack, laptop and everything you managed to hoard --inside, you had a motorcycle, a small table with some boxes on it and a bean bag, enough to survive with in times of crisis.

Afterwards, you tried calling One again, finding no response and destroying the cellphone as to not be tracked. The device in your mask was deactivated for the same reason, it only took a bit of tinkering to snatch it out completely. Sans’ number had been committed to memory, along with your partner’s and AZ’s, just in case you needed them, and, you chose a burner phone from the many you had stacked away inside the bean bag.

Checking your equipment again, you finally locked the large door and placed your mask over your face.

It was time to pay your father a visit.

* * *

 

The headquarters were...empty when you walked inside. There were no receptionists welcoming you, no hustle and bustle like usual, no foot of hunters. The building felt abandoned and by the heat signatures your mask was showing, there were very few people inside.

The cameras were working, so were the elevators, therefore, you knew very well you were being watched, so you tried to ignore the impulse of holding a knife in your hand for comfort, as to not seem like you were coming here to be threatening. A cold feeling spread through your body, however, unsettling and disturbing.

Your route was familiar, you’ve walked these hallways for so many years, took the elevator to that same floor you knew he was on, waited, reported, strategized in the war against the monsters. It felt like ages ago --probably because you were so young back when they broke surface.

Passing by the interrogation rooms, you languidly let your gaze linger, almost saddened.

Something was wrong. Your instincts were never that, though, so you could only speculate and try to put aside the restlessness that you felt in your muscles.

No secretary greeted you, no auxiliary staff, nothing. For once, you were free to open the door to his office without having to step over an obstacle.

And so you did.

He was there, staring through his large windows at the city below, hands clasped behind his back, like he had been expecting you. “Father,”

“Ava, so you finally show up,” he greeted, cooly and ever so composed. Instinctively, you straighten up as if you’re reporting to an authority figure, but then you remember the circumstances and you take a more aggressive stance.

“Where is One?”

He let a long pause flit through the cold space, before he sighed and turned around, his own frozen gaze meeting yours. “Congratulations are in order. You were supposed to be One, after the previous rank owner was found meddling through confidential matters much above him. I believe he was apprehended for his trouble --but, that is not the point, is it?”

Your mouth felt dry. “Father, what did you do?”

“Spring cleaning, I believe would be a proper term. In fact, I had plans for you, until you started getting nosy, of course,” he explained with so much ease, as if he were telling you about the grocery shopping list he had composed this morning.

“Y-you killed...all those humans and monsters?”

He wasn’t even trying to hide it, or trying to deny it, in fact, it felt like he was proud of his accomplishments. A smile painted itself upon his features as he regarded you. “Dear, only the ones that were a potential threat. Intermingling with monsters, fighting for their rights? Hah...what fools, it was simply convenient, you see? Mixing up with those creatures signed up their death certificate, the others would see it as an example, stay away from the animals. The organization will end up wiping them out and humans will once again be safe, live their lives in peace, heal themselves from the atrocities that this war has caused,” he shrugged casually “You should know that getting rid of possible radicals makes for a stronger foundation for society, you were taught these things,”

“...then….what...why would you….they were being integrated into society! It’s our fault they are like this in the first place! We forced them Underground! We locked them away and drove them mad! We isolated them!”

A glint of malice shone in his eyes. “I’m making this perfect world, for you, so you can live the life you should have lived...and you reject my gift?”

“Don’t make me the reason for all of these killings! I refuse to --this is disgusting!” you shout at him, revolted, sick to your stomach. This was a coup, orchestrated by him.

He watches you closely, carefully for a few quiet moments. “What is disgusting is knowing my own flesh and blood is bedding one of those foul things,” he states as a matter of fact, making you freeze in place, eyes widened behind the mask “That is why, you will never become One, I wouldn’t be able to live with the shame,” he added, rounding his desk without even looking at you.

“I suppose pain and sacrifice is sometimes necessary for the greater good,”

Footsteps from behind the door went almost unheard while you stared at your own father, smiling apologetically to your face. “You can’t understand this, your mother couldn’t either, but for what is worth, you have served me well all these years and I acknowledge your own sacrifice for the greater good of humanity,” he walked up to you with slow calculated steps, pausing when he was inches away and raising his hand to stroke your cheek in what could be mistaken as affection.

“Goodbye, Ava,”

His arm fell at his side and he skirted by you, leaving through the door and abandoning you to the deathly silence that fell over the office.

Your body felt...cold. Tears threatened to cloud your eyes, the world around you was crumbling and there was nobody that could catch you.

“Get on your knees with your arms behind your head, Two!”

_Only yourself._

You barely registered that someone was behind the door. That there were hunters behind that door. Ready to put you down if you didn’t comply. How...how dare they...how --that poor kid, brutally killed by your own comrades, people that you shared canned corn with, laughs, stories, pains and aches...people that you grew with, that you watched grow as individuals.

Your purpose, it was to keep humanity safe, to end the war --so why did it feel like you had failed? A broken sob left your mouth as you tried to compose yourself, shoulders shaking with the gravity of what was happening right under your nose. And One? The person you admired so much for his sense of justice, for his righteous path --did he pay for this depravity as well? Did your mother?

You crumpled to your knees.

Having thought that that was your surrender, through the heat vision of their masks, the hunters behind the door burst through, weapons in tow, all aimed at your back.

“Two, put your hands behind your head,” the familiar voice of Three permeated the stillness of the room.

There was no response from you.

Three sighed and approached your trembling form like you were harmless, placing one hand on your shoulder in a fake sense of camaraderie and comfort. “Don’t make this harder than it has to --” but before he knew what was happening, you had grasped his arm, twisted it over you, slamming his back on the floor and had him pinned down, knee on his throat and knife at his forehead, palm on the hilt.

“Stand the fuck down!” at your enraged roar, the remaining hunters tensed, not knowing what to do, as the leader of the squad was struggling beneath you.

The male chuckled, having some trouble talking with your kneecap on his windpipe “Come on, Two, we both know you’re not gonna make it out of here alive,”

“Well, you can’t _fucking_ blame me for trying, can you?” the response you gave him was hissed, filled with venom and rage.

“Suppose not,”

He always did like his chasing games. “Let me tell you, though,” he began “That bullets might not work on monsters, but they do on _humans_ ,”

“Gonna keep those _wise_ words in mind,”

He grinned. “Weapons down guys, we’re giving the lady a head start of thirty seconds, for the sake of old times,” at that, he winked at you. The idiots lowered their weapons at the command and you stood up from having held Three down.

Rubbing at his sore neck, the male looked up at you, amused. “Better run, better hide. I’m coming for you when time’s up,”

“Fair enough,” one last glance at what were once your fellow comrades and you were off, running down the corridor with a plan in mind at how to survive this and get out.

“ _Twenty-nine!_ ”

Further away, much further.

“ _Twenty-eight~_ ”

Three’s countdown became distant noise to your ears the more space you put between the two of you. There was no time for you to think about anything else other than this current goal and this was fine with you, it distracted you and kept you focused on this task alone.

You chose the stairs instead of the elevators, making your way three floors under the last one, where you knew what you wanted to find.

The armory, as you all called it in old terms to make it seem more badass, was located a few doors down that corridor’s floor and you wasted no time in kicking the entryway off the hinges and grabbing a few things, amongst which was cable hook, a gun, which you absolutely hated using, a smoke grenade and a bulletproof shield, which you attached to your back for protection. Each of the other items, you placed on your person, hung on the harness for easy access.

Heavy drumming of footsteps above your head made you aware of the fact that they were on the move and certainly, Three knew where you had been headed first.

Just as you made your way out of the room, they reached the end of the corridor, catching you like a deer in headlights. A flurry of bullets greeted you and you jerkily made a run for the stairs to the floor under, bending your knees so that your shield hid most of you.

“Give up already, Two! This building is crawling with hunters!”

Yeah, you didn’t really care. You pushed through the hallways of the next floor, passing by training rooms, where you spent much of your time working out and sparring, grabbing a weight on your way to the end of the couloir, where the large windows you targeted were.

Bullets flew all around you again, sparks and sounds that whirred past you. The weight was thrown at the window, the cable ready as you leaped through the shards of glass flying everywhere when the dumbell made contact, and, as soon as you were past the metallic rails, the skeleton that remained of the broken windows, you latched the hook on one of the bars with exceptional accuracy and reflex, allowing your body to fall over freely.

You had hooked the other end to your harness, so when you dropped, you knew you weren’t going to splat on the sidewalk, but the sudden halt wouldn’t be pretty either. In fact, it could snap your back given the height of the headquarters and the speed with which you were plunging. Therefore, you had to calculate the exact moment in which you could unlatch the hook of your belt.

Five meters away from the recoil, you unhooked, twisting yourself so you fell on your tip-toes, forced your body to tumble roll and then stood up, as to avoid damage to tendons and muscles.

Once on the hard ground, quite proud of yourself actually, you broke into a run a random moped parked by the building, having been the first thing your eyes locked on. Civilians stopped and stared in awe, murmuring, shouting, filming the whole thing, but you really couldn’t be bothered. The stakes were high.

As soon as you flipped the switch and the engine came to life, you sped down the street with screeching of tyres, forcing people out of your way in the process.

What was the less likely place for them to find you? That wasn’t hard to guess, you concluded, thoughts racing through your mind as you forced the thing to go as fast as possible.

When you were far enough away, you abandoned the vehicle and stuck to obscure alleyways, discovering half-way that a bullet managed to penetrate your thigh and another to graze your shoulder when you escaped. Of course, adrenaline prevented you from feeling the pain or the sting, which you were thankful for. Blood loss was the least of your problems, though. Instead, you pulled your burner phone out and typed in Sans’ number, waiting for the ringing tone.

“sweetheart?” his voice sounded panicked, did something happen? “Meet me at Grillby’s, make sure no one follows you,”

That said, you ended the call, threw the device into a trash can and quickly got out another one at the same time as you were making your way between blocks.

 ...

“Hello Grillby, long time no see,”

The fire elemental looked at you with widened optics, jagged smile vanishing into his purple flames. “Guess you don’t really know me with this mask on,” you smiled, reaching up with your wounded arm and pulling your mask off with a bit of effort, watching him closely for any reaction.

You made your way in his casino through the backdoor of his kitchen, where you caught him making those nice burgers of his.

“But you can call me _Frederica_ ,”

And pinning one of the waitresses to the table.

“....you,”

“Exactly, me. Now,” you pressed harder on your thigh, attempting to stop the bleeding “You better listen to me and listen well, because this is a once in a lifetime proposition I have for you.”

You grinned through clenched teeth, wintery orbs on the flaring flames of the monster.

“....I’m...listening,”

And the day started so well. You already knew you were doomed to hell. At this point it’s go big or go home, really.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave your feedback, press that kudos button and bookmark!  
> love you guys~


	15. there’s nowhere to run from the fire she breathes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh, sorry for the late update again  
> buuut, i started both on this chapter and a new one for the undertale version  
> so expect an update for that one in a day or two as well!! anyway, here's a filler chapter  
> hope you guys will like it! I had fun writing it!
> 
> song to go with this: MAYKA - Rich

Sewing your own wound up was not an easy task, but it was better than putting a hot blade on your gun shot injury to stop the bleeding completely. It was also the most efficient and fast way in which you had a 100%  chance of recovering fast --add some vodka to give you the courage to go through all of this. Especially your trembling hands and drowning mind with how close you were to someone that reminded you of...that period in time. 

You swallowed down the knot of anxiety and paranoia, fought back the cold sweat at the back of your neck and forced yourself to bear it.

Apparently, monster candy and monster food that could heal was banned by the government and confiscated, seeing it as addiction inducing, much like any drug on the street --the problem was that humans were dumb --give them something that can heal almost any physical injury and watch them throw themselves off roofs just for the spike of adrenaline. Unfortunately, when it came to diseases, to mental problems and the such, monster mojo didn’t work, so what were the pros and what were the cons? In the end, that was that.

Despite all of this, you knew Grillby, and while he allowed you to stay in his kitchen and tend to your wounds, while he listened to what you had to say, he didn’t even offer a hand when it came down to cauterizing your thigh bleed, even though he was fire impersonated. Beside that, you knew and he knew _you_ knew that he surely had a secret stash of monster candy or monster healing magic shit, that he kept exclusively for himself and the best paying customers --he was a businessman after all and when the opportunity presented itself so deliciously, he wasn’t gonna pass it by in lieu of respecting the law.

Shamelessly, he watched you from across the kitchen, one hip on the oven side. He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was checking you out while you struggled with the graze on your shoulder --granted, you did have to take off the top of your suit, which hung around your waist by the zipper. “I don’t know if the whole council is aware of what’s happening. Believe it or not, five of the seven are actually respectable people,” you muttered, finishing the suture with a hiss.

Thankfully, you were sitting down on one of the chairs around the kitchen table meant for the staff to have their lunch on.

“...and you need my help because?” --that voice alone had goose bumps spread over your skin. Flashes of past memories presenting themselves into your mind's eye.

His purple fire flared into a lavender hue above his head, luminous eyes narrowing at you from above the opaque black aviators on his...well, nose, you presumed. His jagged mouth, looking like something out of a nightmare, twitched downwards in what you knew was displeasure from all those years back when you worked for him undercover. Images of him and innocent women forced into indecent positions plagued your vision, but you swatted them away mentally. 

“I’m officially a traitor. A radical, that escaped proper punishment --I’m sure they can find some bullshit reason to make me a criminal. What I need now is a way to get places, get information and find someone, I think you have the resources,”

“...and how would you know--” “Because I know you Grillby, I have read your profile. We have files on all and each of you, but yours? Yours is more like a book. I know you because that was my mission, learn the inner workings, observe, report --fuck up your business,” the snarky add at the end didn't go unnoticed.

He snarled and made a step forward, hands crackling into claws at his sides and the fire atop his head hightening with warning like a bonfire. You stopped him with a freezing glare in his direction, full of spite and ice “Thing is, you love money. You’re a power-hungry narcissistic ass that doesn’t care for anything but his business, money and reputation. Tell me I’m wrong,” your mouth quirked into a cruel smile “So imagine what a purge like this could do to you and your little casino. In the end, they will come for you, no matter how well you think you can hide and protect yourself. When I tell you that they wanna wipe you all out, I mean all of you,” you finished in a biting tone.

His flames stuttered and he recoiled, turning his head away with a hissing and crackling. “I am perfectly able to handle them,” his arms, covered in a fancy navy suit jacket, with natural fur on the collar, crossed over his chest, where his white button down shirt allowed a peek at his neck and chest, engulfed in blue-violet fire.

“Against a thousand hunters coming for your head?” a bitter laugh erupted from you “If you remember correctly, we wiped more than a hundred of your kind when the war first started, in just one hour,” you tilted your head to the side, pulling the suit back over your battered flesh “And I was only fourteen then, most of us were just kids having fun,” just saying this made you sick to the stomach.

His head twitched to the side in a jerky motion, one of the tics he couldn’t ever control, especially when he got wound up. Smoke left his mouth, showing how much the situation was really affecting him. Flashes of abused faces showed themselves in an instant, instinct telling you to flee. 

“Look, I’m the only one that’s left, that will stand by your kind, that’s trying to do something. I have what is needed to change this. If you don’t trust me, that’s fine, I don’t trust you either --but trust the situation. They killed humans, innocent humans just to make your kind the scapegoat, what do you think is gonna happen to you? Or your patrons?”

You had to be very tactful with Grillby, he had a short fuse and his weaknesses were few.

“If you help me, you survive, your patrons survive, your casino survives --it’s a win-win,”

“...but do you have what it takes to keep your word?” his voice was hoarse, a series of crackling and consuming hisses, like when wood is set aflame. The question was undeniably relevant, because you didn’t know the answer to it.

“At this point, I’m the only solution there is. I brought down your king, as much as it hurts your pride, I did all that on my own, isn’t that enough?”

“...on your own?” the involuntary jerk of his head happened again as he asked this in a suave voice that hinted at knowing more about that than he let on.

“On my own,” you determinedly repeat.

“...what do you need then, hunter?”

You take a deep breath and shift your position on the chair by the table, the seat you were offered by the gracious owner “I will need you to put me in touch with the untagged monster, you and I both know you know about him. You know everything that’s going on, inside and outside of your locale, that’s just who you are,”

He almost commented on that, almost denied everything, but as you watched him, steely gaze locked on his conflicted expression flitting about his face, he leaned back on the oven’s edge, crossing his arms tighter and flaring his irritation at having to bite his tongue. “...and what should I call you, hunter?”

“I have no name to give,” you replied confidently, furrowing your eyebrows and --” _ava!_ _where the fuck is she ya piece a’shit_!?”

_….sigh._

The sounds from outside the kitchen made you pinch the bridge of your nose and Grillby to snap his head towards said direction.

Punching noises, cracking and glasses shattering had you look away in embarrassment, sliding that same hand down your face, not even knowing what to say to the now very agitated Grillby, turning his eyes to you and then back at the ruckus that was happening out there.

Suddenly, the door was thrown off the hinges and crashed into the opposite wall, having flown right through the space between you and the fire elemental. A panting, sweating, angry, red magic unfurling skeleton stepped inside, looking around with wild eyes and a glare that could kill someone on the spot.

Red pin-like eye lights swept over the kitchen and locked on your disheveled, bloody self.

Once he saw you, he barreled over to Grillby, catching him by the collar and raising at least thirty sharp bones in the air with the intent to dust him; his pupils had dilated and flared, an animalistic bellow leaving his bared mouth, red fog slipping between razor teeth in a macabre manner. “what the fuck did ya do to her ya dumb motherfu--”

“Sans, enough!”

As simple as that, like you just told a dog to stand down, the skeleton whipped his head in your direction and slowly lowered Grillby down, phalanges leaving the crumpled collar of his white blouse with hesitant confusion, an eye ablaze and the other an empty void socket.

“He didn’t do this to me. We were just...talking,” you stated simply, indifferent, with a blank stare. Honestly, you were more annoyed than anything at this point, and Sans starting a fight was seriously giving you a headache after the day you had.

Without as much as a second glance to the grunting elemental trying to rearrange his coat and shirt, the livid monster came at you, snatching your hands in his, looking over the ripped parts of your suit, at the now closed wounds and then your face. His hand came to rest on your cheek while you watched him fuss over your state, opening and closing his mouth, as if he didn’t know what to say.

“I’m fine,” you supplied for him, gaze softening when you realized how cold you were being towards him. Sometimes you had trouble becoming you again, sometimes when you were in this state, surviving, running, fighting, you had to struggle to remember to be comfortable again. The crimson light bathed your face in the threatening tint of his intense stare.

“who--” “...my father, fellow hunters actually. I’ve been chased out of my own house, so to say,” you lifted your own hand and caressed the one he held to your flesh, his thumb stroking a little scratch you had there from literally jumping through the windows.

“...So I was right in assuming you had rutted a white-face,” the flame monster intervened, watching the display with an expression of disgust on his face. For some reason, it wasn’t hard to tell what he was conveying, and he made no attempt at hiding the snarl and scowl on his features either.

You groaned. Fucking great, starting with insults already.

“We’re not at war anymore, haven’t been for four years, Grillby,”

“...it’s a matter of principle,” he easily remarked, huffing smoke from his serrated shaped mouth, flames rising just a bit too high for your liking. In an instant, a large animal skull materialized eye-level with Grillby, making him recoil back with a growl, fire stuttering.

“shut the fuck up, grillbz,”

Sans’ eyes never left yours as he hissed this to the monster entrepreneur, but they returned to their usual red pins. When silence settled for a good few seconds, you looked away and he took the opportunity to prod “what happened to ya?”

Might as well. Not like you were tongue-tied by the regulations anymore and if you wanted the support, you should show them both that you could spare important information. “This is gonna take a while to explain, but I’m gonna tell you everything, from the start,” you exhaled softly, grasping Sans’ hand and pulling it down with yours. “Not like I have to respect any confidentiality clauses given the circumstances,” the laugh that left you was bitter and pitiful, the skeleton watching you with so much worry that you stopped abruptly --no reason to make him more concerned than he was. “Right…”

Still had your sanity, might as well hold onto that.

“So, it all started with the last case I was given. It looked pretty easy, two dead humans, two missing SOULs, two monster suspects evading the authorities, a proper autopsy report --” you stood up from the seat, skirting around Sans to get more of the bandages that Grillby was nice enough to provide --granted, he did yell at the waitress he was humping dry to get some, so in a way you should be thankful towards that poor girl.

Unveiling the stark white by the counter, where the tea and coffee was neatly placed in alphabetical order, you began to wrap it over the shoulder wound you just finished suturing, over the suit's ripped sleeve, just to keep it tighter together. “It wasn’t until the interrogation that things started to fall apart,” you continued “Me and One, we were trying to press them for information, a detailed confession, maybe the drop of a name, something to go on --because so far, they were only suspects until proven guilty, so we didn’t have much in that respect. We wanted to lock you down, Grillby, we believed you were directly responsible for the two dead men. However, one of them slipped up, they mentioned another monster, told us this was so much bigger than we could imagine,” at that, your gaze locked onto the elemental, “--they weren’t scared, and I know how scared looks like, no; they were terrified. Then, the most bizarre thing happened; the one I was pressuring killed the other for the blunder and then shoved one of my knives into their throat. Poof! All hard work gone, or so we thought,”

You paused, eyebrows furrowing together at the details that you remembered, at how you were close to becoming one of them -- _”..we’ll just tell them you attacked us, it was self-defense, dust you both,”_ \--that’s what you said, even when they said they were innocent, you still pursued your beliefs.

“Anyway, I knew I was onto something, because there were some questionable pieces that didn't fit, so I decided to look deeper. I searched the whole police database and the...uh...organization’s database at the same time, hoping to find some clues in similar cases. I was suspecting that you,” ice blues slid over to Grillby “were working with another monster to rise a radical group. Alas, that wasn’t what I found --what I found were fifty matches to the case I was working on, That’s when I knew I was on the right track; and then you found me,” this time, your eyes landed on the skeleton, watching you with interest. He huffed and glared away, shoving his hands in his pockets.

For some reason, the animal skull was still very much in the room, maw barely opened and staring at the fire elemental.

Clearing your throat, you resume bandaging, your thigh this time. “I went to the archives, where we store the old cases when we close them, just to check on the fifty I found that matched mine, hoping I would find some common ground, clues that had been overlooked, even some trivial information that could serve me well; what I found was a pattern, however, a trajectory, starting from Ebott to Grillby’s place, a perfect, straight line, starting from the oldest case to the newest one, each crime scene going closer and closer to the casino. Another thing I noticed was that all the victims were indebted in a way to you, Grillby, which only strengthened my suspicion. They all had that in common, each hanging out...here,” you gestured to the surroundings.

The elemental snarled again, almost offended by what you were saying. “As if I would stoop that low! Why would I kill off my debts? My cash cows, as you humans say,”

Choosing to ignore his interruption, just like Sans did, judging by the unusual quietness he was displaying, you continued “We first believed it was an Asgore loyalist, or someone that awaited an opportunity to make themselves known, since it all started four months after the king was brought down,” the quiver in your voice at even talking about him, made your heart skip uncomfortably, just at the thought of the monster. “Nevertheless, my partner decided to look deeper into that...through unorthodox means,  and found out there were meetings arranged in obscure places between certain monsters, so we went on a stakeout, long story short: we saw that monster, turned out he was untagged, which rendered him invisible to all hunters, making him the perfect killer --it was.. _.an experience_ , but we managed to get footage, proof, a theory, a lead, whatever you wanna call it. Honestly, I couldn’t understand why my fellow hunters never dug deeper, only settled for the apparent reality,” you sighed as you remembered that time at the docks, recalling every small detail vividly. “The next day I went to report to my superior,” you avoided saying it was your father “I was shot down and threatened to be taken off the case if I didn’t let this go and questioning my comrades’ competency,”

“but ya didn’t, did ya?” Sans scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Correct,” you smiled, tying up the bandage when it was sufficiently tight against your wound. “when ya got shot down, did it have anythin’ to do with that bruise on ya face?”

 _Not the time, Sans,_ you glared at him. Not going to answer that.

Skipping the part about your crazy dream, you finally got to the recent events. “Everything went ass up with the last victim, a teenager, speaking for the monster’s rights. He was innocent in all of this, it...I really wanted to find this murderer. Me and my partner went to the coroner’s office, read the report, saw the body, it looked like a monster attack and when we checked, there were no tagged monsters in the area at the time of death. That pointed to our untagged friend we found out about,” your gaze lowered to the floor, jaw set “It wasn't our case, but we went to the crime scene, searching for things that may have been overlooked. We discovered some footage from an ATM across the street. Nobody had bothered to check it, the other available cameras had somehow malfunctioned at that time, like something intentionally jammed them to hide the evidence. Of course, we told nobody, we hacked into the system and had to decrypt the code, but...when we saw it…”

The panic you felt then, the conflicting emotions, they returned with the harsh circumstances you were in. “They were human in shape, two silhouettes, they beat the poor boy up until he was dead. The monster that we suspected came by later, as if to check on the teenager, if he was alive anymore or not, like he knew what would happen but was too late. I assume he was the one that took the SOUL, I don’t know why…”

You also left out the clear message with the flower crown or the clawed out eyes.

Turns out you were blind to what the organization was doing behind closed doors, or at least, what one of the councilmen was doing, your own father. “We went to talk to his mother the next day, that’s how we knew about the monster rights group, then we went to that place, which happened to be a few alleys down from here,” another sigh passed your lips “The monster leading the meetings taking place there said he remembered the faces of two strangers that had been lurking about on the same day Benja-- _the victim_ was killed, said he could help us identify them and...when I asked him how they were dressed, to verify my suspicions, well...he said they were dressed like hunters. Er were going to return the next day with a sketcher that could draw out the portraits of the culprits, so we could confront that with the hunter database...”

You bit your lip. Both monsters were quiet this time, watching you closely. “This morning’s news, when I saw...that same monster having been killed...I knew we had been made. I tried to contact my partner, but he didn’t answer, which is so unlike him, so I went to the headquarters to my superior betting on the fact that they didn’t know I figured it out," the hard part came "When I inquired about One, I was told he was apprehended and that I would have been the next in rank, however...well, --” you glanced at Sans “My superior found out about me and you. It was an ambush. A part of my hunter comrades tried to capture me, but I managed to escape. Like I said before, I don’t know if One is dead or not, I don’t know if the whole organization is planning a coup or not...or if it’s just my...my superior that’s planning this…”

You squeezed your eyes shut. “So here I am, pretty sure I’m on their hit list and pretty sure there’s something big going down behind the scenes, with little means to find out what it is....”

A pregnant silence fell over the kitchen area. Sans sighed deeply and plopped down on the chair you previously occupied, the animal skull vanishing as soon as his digits scraped over his boney face, as if he were getting a headache from all of this. You opened your eyes to watch him for a second and then returned to fix Grillby with your gaze, his quietness making you arch an eyebrow and lean your backside on the counter edge behind you.

“I am sure, however, that they won’t expect me to be here, since they have my...uh...files from the facility and know about my feelings regarding…” you gestured towards the fire elemental, not wishing to give any more details in light of your mental health.

“That’s why I will need the help of a monster, the untagged one I mentioned, specifically,” you continued, making the skeleton groan and look up towards you with furrowed brow bones “an’ who’s this monsta’?”

“I don’t know his name, but he looks like --” sudden movement from Grillby behind Sans, making wild movements with his arms, signaling you to not say any more, his fire turning a weird hue of blue, caught your attention. What? He didn't want you to go further? Why? 

“--like?” Sans prodded. Making the decision fast --“Like a fish,” you closed your mouth in a firm line.

“a fuckin’ fish?”

You put on your best poker face. “Yes, large and...scaly,” --you knew when you needed to shut up, even if it came from what was once a creature that did vile things before your very eyes. It seemed important, as Grillby was never frantic like this. Instinctually, you followed his lead.

Regardless, Sans didn’t seem to buy it, but decided to let it go. “so, if they know ‘bout us, means they gonna come for me?”

“It would be the logical next step, yeah,” you were grateful for the change in topic and Grillby seemed to deflate in the background.

“fuckin’ great. me an’ my bro ‘re tagged, so runnin’ is useless,”

“...I have a solution for the tags,” the flame in the room piped up with sudden vigor. Instantly, you eyed him, both eyebrows arched up this time. Sans glanced back at his friend as well, just as interested in the proposal.

“...The tag is a hindrance for me so, I have employed the help of...Doctor Alphys to find a way to at least dampen it, a few weeks back. I pay her good money. Frankly, I don’t like the idea of someone always knowing where I am and what I do,” he explained himself as he arranged his collar back in place to look as pristine as before you had showed up.

At this information, you couldn’t help but shake your head. Of course they would attempt to find a way around the tagging system. “Did you give it to anyone? Sold it? Lent it?” you had to know, had to be sure. 

Grillby scoffed and crackled offended. “...Of course not! That is just for me, what purpose would it serve me to have other monsters falling off the radar?”

“Money, for one,” you retorted, unamused and crossing your arms over your breastplate.

“hate to say it, grillbz, but she’s right,”

“...I like to remain at the top of the food chain, however. Giving it away to someone else would be very foolish of me,” he huffed, flames flickering “Besides, it is not yet tested, as I have just received it the other day. I believe it is time for a trial run,”

Now he sounded more like the Grillby you were used to. Clearly, Alphys didn’t test it out either since he was willing to let Sans have a first go at it, before he did it himself.

“what’s it do?” the skeleton interrupted before you had the chance to say something else, with a bite in his tone. The elemental smoothed down his vest and crackled, much like a person would hum in thought trying to recall something “I believe what the doctor said was that it can dampen the tag’s outreach for a period of time, disrupts the signal or something of the sort,”

“means it’s jus’ a temporary fix,” Sans grunted, phalanges drumming on the table. “we gonna have’ta act fast. they gonna be on my trail in no time,”

You nodded. “...What do I get in return for this?” Grillby asked, feeling as if he could make demands.

Was it really the time? “How about I find a way to completely deactivate the tags? I need shelter for a few days, some cash so I can move around freely, preferably a fake ID as well and that favor I asked for,”

His eyes burned into you, unmoving.

....

“...Very well, Ava,” his crooked smile widened in jagged splinters.

You cringed, before you turned ice cold blues to your lover. “Sans, I need you to keep on moving around, even with the dampener, change locations oddly,” you bit your lip “...their modus operandi in this case would be to come to your house, check it and when they don’t find me, they will try to question whoever is there --if there are no results, then they will keep a team there for watch, preferably in a car outside the house to not gain too much attention,”

As you explained all of these things, Grillby went upstairs to the condo above his casino, where he also lived for easy access, to get said device.

It turned out to be the thing that you used on Sans before, to disrupt his magic, but engineered differently. You admired the way Alphys was able to make such changes, nonetheless, despite the fact that it was scary how easily they managed to do such a feat. Immediately, the monster plucked it and prodded it to check for any flaws that might end up dusting him by accident. You let him have his fun, until he deemed it relatively safe.

By the end of the day, you had placed the thing on Sans’ ankle, over the dull black band of the tag stuck to his bone. When you activated it, ignoring Grillby’s fussing by your side as you pushed buttons with an air of knowing what you were doing, the thing blipped to life and glowed an ominous red color.

There was no way of knowing if it worked or not, but that would be verified at another time. You urged Sans to leave after another few minutes, since it wasn’t yet safe to stay in one place for too long.

“call me when ya wake up, sweetheart,”

“Yeah, yeah…”

A parting kiss, at which Grillby groaned in disgust, and he was gone.

Besides, you needed rest. The fire elemental offered his guest room to you and that was all the space you needed to install yourself. At your request, he provided you with an old laptop and a glass of wine, standing idly by you as your fingers danced over the keyboard, appearing extremely untrusting and cautious with your presence in his home.

“Mind telling me what the deal was with the untagged monster?”

“...he is an old friend,” his fire crackled calmly “...that Sans absolutely despises,”

“Why?” you took a sip of the wine, pausing in your typing. “...bad blood,” the reply was barely anything to scratch the surface, so you went further.

Setting the glass down, you smirked to yourself, daring a glare up at the elemental that had once ruled through human trafficking and many other abhorrent crimes in the guise of Ebbot’s barrier. “What’s his relation to Sans? Don’t lie to me,” you spoke smoothly, making him snap his glowing lilac eyes on you, like he hadn’t expected you to make any connections.

“...brother,”

“Ah, that makes sense,” you whistled, understanding the puzzle pieces coming together for once. So he was the scientist brother he had mentioned. “You do realize he will find out sooner or later,” your fingers began to slide over keys again, the tap tapping making enough background noise to not make the silence too awkward.

“... _not_ from _you_ ,”

A veiled threat, spoken with so much malice that it made a chill run down your spine.

“Got it,” you replied simply, focusing your mind on hacking the organization’s system. Satisfied that you understood the meaning of his words, Grillby straightened up from his slouched position by your shoulder, “...what are you trying to accomplish?”

Believing that he referred to what you were doing on the laptop, you tried to explain it by avoiding technical jargon. 

“I’m trying to find any traces of what’s going on, check if there is any correspondence between the other headquarters, between the other council members or top ranked hunters by certain tag words, that could give me an answer,”

He tilted his head to the side, violet flames flaring in curiosity. “I admire your...tenacity and acumen,” he suddenly hissed out, forcing your attention onto him as he stood there tall and mighty.

“No wonder...you were the one that got away,” he added with another flare of his fire, voice turning bitter.

“Let’s not bring up the past, yeah? This time we’re on the same side, so you don’t have to worry,” you cheekily stated, a glint in your eyes and a shiver in your wrists. This cruel, intelligent monster, complimenting you for your wit and resourcefulness, made you a bit more confident, so you resumed the task at hand. If he considered this a big deal, then what would he think of One's astuteness? There was still a tinge of unevenness, of instinctual awareness, but dulled by the beverage on hand. 

“...good night,” curt and blunt, he left with just that, knowing when it was time to abandon a conversation that was going nowhere nice.

As the door closed, you took another sip of the wine, feeling the alcohol beginning to numb your overwhelming emotions. That was a good feeling, being numb, that’s what you needed right now. One would want you focused, that’s when you were the most efficient.

Again, your slender dexterous fingers flew over the keys, until a bar appeared on the screen, mirrored in your eyes, loading slowly in gaining access to the database and the whole system.

Of course you knew how to bypass all the security, you’d been taught by the best how to make your way through the virtual space without boundaries, limitations or denied access, your partner was even more brilliant, so you picked a few tricks from him along the way. Through a simple, yet complex virus, layered to hide its true purpose, much like a trojan horse, you slithered your way in as soon as the green bar filled to 100% -- _Access permitted._

“Let’s see what you’re hiding,”

Cracking your knuckles, you began digging through the piles of data, determined to find the backstage of this elaborate show.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos, comment and bookmark if you liked it!  
> love you all <3


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